From the Local (Germany):  Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl on Wednesday offered a blistering assessment of Germany’s current foreign policy, saying the country had become an erratic and unreliable partner to its closest allies.

In an expansive interview with the foreign policy journal Internationale Politik, Germany’s longest-serving post-war leader slammed his successors Gerhard Schröder and Angela Merkel for ruining the country’s reputation overseas.

“Germany’s hasn’t been a reliable power for several years – neither domestically nor abroad,” said Kohl. “We have to be careful not to throw everything away. We desperately have to return to our former dependability.”

Kohl said recent events such as Germany’s decision not to support the efforts of its closest allies to oust Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi and the lacking German leadership during the eurozone debt crisis had left him dismayed.

“I have to ask myself, where does Germany actually stand today and where does it want to go,” he said. “Our friends and allies abroad are naturally also asking this question.”

The former chancellor, who presided over Germany reunification in 1990, said the foreign policy of Merkel’s centre-right coalition under the direction of Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle appeared haphazard and without direction. . . .  (photo: DPA)

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