Italy on Friday paid tribute to
former German chancellor Helmut Kohl who has died at 87, with
President Sergio Mattarella, Premier Paolo Gentiloni, Foreign
Minister Angelino Alfano and former European Commission
president Romano Prodi all remembering a great European who
presided over German reunification.
Mattarella wrote to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
saying "I have learned with deep sorrow of the passing of Helmut
Kohl, a political personality of extraordinary significance in
the recent history of Germany and the whole of Europe".
He said "his passing deprives Germany of a great personality
and Europe of one of its founding fathers".
Mattarella went on: "He who was, rightly, described as 'the
Chancellor of Reunification', worked with far-sightedness and
determination, in years marked by deep and epochal changes in
world equilibria, to give back unity to his country in the
framework of the great project of European integration.
"As an authentic statesman, he knew how to combine pragmatism
and a capacity of vision, furnishing a courageous contribution
not only tot he fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of
Germany, but also to overcoming the dramatic divisions which,
for decades, had torn Europe".
Gentiloni, for his part, tweeted: "Honour to the memory of
Chancellor Kohl.
"Italy remembers him as the protagonist of German
reunification and the fall of the European Wall".
Alfano tweeted that "his ideals must continue to inspire
young generations who believe in #European unity".
Former two-time centre-left Italian premier and ex-European
Commission chief Prodi said that "we have lost a giant of
politics, a giant of a united Europe".
"Today with the death of Helmut Kohl a reference of
extraordinary greatness passes. He was the father of the
reunification of Germany, author of the fall of the Berlin Wall
and resolute constructor of the European Union.
"I shared with him the desire for a united Europe that would
let all nations live in peace with common goals".
Prodi went on: "Our relations were always good and friendly
even when we found ourselves on different positions and our
meetings never stopped, up till the last time when he voiced to
me the idea that a new generation in Europe was now ready to
take up and give new impetus to the dream of the founding
fathers. I keep this memory which is also a hope.
"My thoughts go out to his family and those who loved him".
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