European Neighbors Warm to Unified Germany

[The 20th Anniversary of German Reunification was October 3rd]

Twenty years ago, Germany's neighbors either supported or opposed reunification. Helmut Kohl [then Chancellor], strongly supported European integration and made a promise, "not to return to the Europe of yesterday." Since then, all German governments have upheld that promise, from championing the EU's admission of former East Bloc countries to giving up the Mark for the Euro. The younger generation is generally more supportive whereas the older generation that lived through Germany's troubled past still has reservations. Germany's relations with Poland are economically much improved but there are still many social tensions, as with the Czech Republic, though the generation under 50 has a very different experience with Germany than their forerunners. Germany as the host nation for the 2006 World Cup also presented a major breakthrough; other nations realized that, "the war was over, finished" and even cheered Germany on.

Rebecca M. Samson