Helmut Kohl died

The former German Chancellor Helmut Kol passed away. He died on Friday, June 16, at the age of 87 in his house in Ludwigshafen, the German tabloid Bild said.

The message about the death of the politician is confirmed on the Twitter of the Christian Democratic Union party, the chairman of which he was from 1973 to 1998.

As Reuters notes, in recent years, the column was sick and moved on a wheelchair.

Helmut Kohl was the chancellor of the Government of Germany from 1982 to 1998, becoming the only politician in the history of Germany who held this position four times in a row.

Kolya is called the Chancellor of German Unity, since under his rule in 1990 the process of uniting Germany and the GDR took place.

Helmut Kohl repeatedly visited the Soviet Union and played an important role in establishing good neighborly ties between the USSR and Germany. Of great importance in this connection were Kolya's meetings with the leader of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev, the result of which was the signing of documents that created a legal foundation for new relationships, TASS notes.

So, in June 1989, Gorbachev and Kohl in a joint statement emphasized the intention of two states to draw conclusions from history lessons and establish strong ties in areas such as disarmament, mutual trade and youth exchanges. In November 1990, the agreement on good neighborliness, partnership and cooperation between the USSR and Germany was signed. Both leaders also discussed issues regarding the unification of Germany.

For the development of Russian-German contacts, the meetings of Helmut Kolya and Russian President Boris Yeltsin were of particular importance. Since December 1992, when the first official visit of Helmut Kolya to Russia was held, about twenty such meetings took place.

“Helmut Kohl greeted Boris Nikolaevich very kindly. He always sincerely rejoiced at every new meeting. It seemed to me that the German Chancellor was treating our president as a younger brother. Always touching with an accent:“ Borys, Borys ” - and at the same time gently patted Boris Yeltsin, Alexander Korzhakov, Alexander Korzhakov. The book "The Near Circle" of Tsar Boris.

Having retired, Kohl began to write memoirs and published about ten books, including “I wanted the unity of Germany” (1996), “My Diary 1998-2000” (2000), the three-volume “Memories” (2004, 2005, 2007), “Excellent for Europe” (2014). In the last book, Kohl, in particular, criticizes the Western decision to hold the Eight summit in June 2014 in a truncated composition without Russia. In his opinion, "the West should pursue a more deliberate policy against the Ukrainian crisis."

Kohl always favored Russia and repeatedly visited Moscow, having already left the post of chancellor. He continued to play a role in modern politics. According to the German magazine, Spiegel, in 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote personal letters to Kolya with a request to “put in the word” for Russia in connection with the crisis in Ukraine. This information, however, was refuted in the Kremlin, and in Kolya’s office they did not confirm it, but they did not refute it either.

Biographical certificate

Helmut Kohl was born on April 3, 1930 in the city of Ludwigshafen (since 1946 by the land of Reinland-Palatz) in the family of a tax official. He was the third child at seven, his father Hans Kol and Cecilia’s mother adhered to strict Catholic views and were opponents of the idea of ​​National Socialism.

During the Second World War, the father of Helmut and his older brother had to fight on the side of the Wehrmacht, his brother died. In December 1944, Helmut was sent to military training in the Berchtesgaden training camp, but did not participate in hostilities.

In 1950-1956, he studied law, history, political science and philosophy at the universities of Frankfurt-on-Maine and Heidelberg. In 1958, at the University of Heidelberg, he received the degree of Doctor of Historical Sciences, defending the dissertation on the topic "Political development of Phalts and the revival of political parties after 1945" - the first on this problem.

In 1947, he joined the recently created party of the Christian Democratic Union (CDS), was one of the founders of the party youth organization in Ludwigshafen, having traveled in this party the path from the Member of the Executive Council of the CDU organization in the land of the Rhineland-Pfhalz to the Chairman of the CDU Ludshafen since 1959.

In 1959, he was elected to the Landtag (local parliament) of the lands of the Rhineland-Palatz, becoming the youngest deputy. In 1960, Helmut Kohl married the translator Hannelore Renner, whom he met in 1948. The couple lived together for 41 years, in 2001 Hannelore, which suffered from a severe form of allergies into the light (suffered from severe form of allergies). Two sons grew up in the family: Walter (born in 1963) and Peter (born in 1965), who are engaged in business.

In 1966-1973, he headed the CDS Reinland-Pfalz, in 1966 he became part of the Federal Board of the CDS, in 1969 he became deputy chairman of the CDS (until 1973).

Kohl made a party career on his own, without influential patrons. He formed his own team, whose core was composed by his associates in the party youth organization.

In 1973-1998 He headed the HDS. In 1978, a new program of the party was adopted, which reflected the mitigation of the positions of the CDU in relation to the so-called "Eastern Policy", begun in 1969 by Chancellor Willy Brandt (the Social Democratic Party of Germany) and aimed at discharge in the relations of Germany with the countries of the socialist camp.

In September 1982, the Chancellor of Germany Helmut Schmidt announced the impossibility of maintaining a government coalition due to contradictions on the problems of economic and social policy. On October 1, Bundestag brought to the government a votum of mistrust, and 52-year-old Helmut Kol was elected Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. Then he was the youngest chancellor in the history of Germany.

During the reign of Kolya, control over state expenses was strengthened, state intervention in the economy was limited, new industries related to microelectronics and biotechnology were developed.

Since 1986, inflation for several years has been at a level of less than 1.5%. In the same year, Germany first took first place in the world in terms of exports and held it for three consecutive years (later the country repeatedly held leading positions in this indicator). Upopular decisions were made, including a reduction in state expenses for social needs and tightening legislation in relation to strikes.