Water off a duck's back

Angela Merkel sought to deny claims on Thursday that Germany's foreign policy lacked direction after former Chancellor Helmut Kohl leveled an unusual attack at the governing coalition.

While emphasizing that her fellow Christian Democrats' achievements "can not be overstated," Merkel defended Germany's standing in world politics.

"Every age has its own specific challenges," she told public broadcaster NDR. "The Christian-Liberal government is working on mastering the challenges of our time together with our partners in Europe and the world."

Kohl launched his critique of German foreign policy in a rare interview with the bi-monthly foreign policy journal Internationale Politik, which was released two days ahead of publication on Wednesday.

The Conservative icon who led the country from 1982 to 1998 warned that Germany had lost its reputation for reliability in world politics.

"For the last few years, Germany has ceased being a predictable factor, whether domestically or externally," the 81-year-old said.

"We have to watch out that we don't gamble everything away. We urgently have to restore the old dependability," he added.

Assuming responsibility

Kohl specifically criticized Germany's decision to stray from its western partners by abstaining from a UN Security Council vote authorizing a no-fly zone in Libya earlier this year.

As proof of what he suggested was Germany's declining international reputation, he pointed to US President Barack Obama's decision to visit France and Poland last spring, leaving out Germany.

"After everything that we Germans and the Americans have gone through together and the things that unite us still, I would never have dreamed I would see the day when an incumbent US president comes to Europe and flies over Germany or, you could say, passes it over," he said.

The former chancellor, who presided over Germany's reunification in 1990, also said he hoped Germany and the European Union would "resume taking on responsibility" in the world.

"We must urgently stop thinking small and begin speaking again with one voice," he said.

Fractious coalition

Kohl was Merkel's political mentor in the conservative Christian Democrat Party (CDU.) Although he didn't mention his former protege by name, his critique comes at a politically sensitive time for the chancellor.

Divisions are mounting in her center-right coalition after President Christian Wulff disputed her handling of the eurozone debt crisis on Wednesday, questioning the legality of the European Central Bank's (ECB) recent steps to contain the debt crisis.

"I think the massive bond-buying program of the European Central Bank is politically and morally questionable," he said on Wednesday, insisting that future generations will have to suffer the consequences of this policy, which is also supported by European governments.

While several economists criticized Wulff for his comments, other CDU politicians chimed in with his view. "We should take the president's comments seriously, it's also a question of being fair to generations of people," the head of the parliamentary Home Affairs Committee, Wolfgang Bosbach, said.

He admitted that the ECB's policies could buy time, but he doubted that "they would solve the problem in the long term."

Meanwhile, poll ratings for the coalition remain poor and it has performed badly in several state elections this year.

Authors: Charlotte Chelsom-Pill, Nicole Goebel (dpa, Reuters, AFP)
Editor: Rob Turner