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Article: Looming Germany: Helmut Kohl lost no time in rubbing the shine off German unity. (editorial)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- March 10, 1990
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1990 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Helmut Kohl lost no time in rubbing the shine off German unity
ST GERMANY'S chancellor, Mr Helmut Kohl, is neither a bully nor a madman, though this past week he has done a passable impersonation of both. What moves him is something else: he is gambling for high stakes and is not fussy about how he wins. By quibbling over the legality of Germany's border with Poland, and then demanding a price for fixing it, he has been trying to cover his right flank in the run-up to West Germany's election in December. By stepping up pressure for speedy German unity after this month's East German election he hopes to reap the unity dividend" for his party in a future pan-German ...