German Parliament remembers former Chancellor Helmut Kohl
Germany's Parliament has honored former Chancellor Helmut Kohl in a special memorial session, remembering him as the architect of German reunification but also not without flaws.
Parliament President Norbert Lammert said Thursday that because of Kohl, who died Friday at age 87, "the peaceful unity of our country and a free and pacified Europe is today a reality."
Remembering the party financing scandal that embroiled Kohl after he left office in 1998, Lammert said the former chancellor himself "acknowledged some mistakes."
Lammert told Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and others in the session "Kohl's path was sometimes painful, sometimes caused by himself and sometimes caused by others."
Kohl is being honored with an official European memorial event, a first for the European Union, at the European Parliament on July 1.
