Kohl Calls for a United Europe

DRESDEN, Germany — Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl warned Germans against nationalism Tuesday and urged commitment to a united Europe as he returned to the scene of a triumphant pro-unification speech 11 years ago.

Addressing a cheering crowd of about 14,000 outside a landmark Dresden church now being rebuilt, Kohl said Germany’s main task as Europe’s largest nation is to remain on good terms with its neighbors and allies--especially as the European Union expands eastward.

“We have learned our lesson from history,” Kohl said. “It is important that in these times Germany sends the message to our neighbors: We are all Europeans together, and we want to shape this century together as Europeans.”

Recalling his 1989 Dresden speech, delivered the month after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Kohl said he warned Germans then that many among their neighbors “view us with concern, and some with fear.”

To clapping and chants of “Helmut! Helmut!” Kohl stepped back into the statesman role at a time when cooling German-French ties have raised concerns about European unification and when Germany is more assertive diplomatically.

Kohl’s reputation has been dented over the past year by a slush fund scandal, but he remains a respected figure among many Germans. He made no mention of the scandal in Tuesday’s speech, which was organized by his party, the Christian Democratic Union.

Instead, he focused on the grand sweep of history, insisting that European unification begun by France and Germany after World War II remains the continent’s best guarantee against war. He cautioned Germans that “it makes no sense to think only of one’s own interests.”