European act of state in honour of Helmut Kohl


The European act of state in honour of Helmut Kohl was an act of state to honour former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl following his death, and took place at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France on 1 July 2017 from 11 AM to 1 PM. It was announced by the European Commission on 18 June 2017, and was the first European act of state in the history of the European Union. It was co-organised by the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council.
Helmut Kohl died on 16 June 2017 and was survived by his sons Walter Kohl and Peter Kohl, and grandchildren Johannes Volkmann and Leyla Kohl. The European Commission announced that it was planning a grand ceremony, attended by European heads of state and government, to honour Kohl. Kohl was one of only three people to be awarded the title Honorary Citizen of Europe by the European Union, and was, together with French President François Mitterrand, one of the two principal architects of the Maastricht Treaty which established the European Union and the euro currency. He was also considered the "father of the German reunification."

Speakers

The speakers at the ceremony were, in the following order
  1. Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament and former European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship
  2. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission and Prime Minister of Luxembourg
  3. Donald Tusk, President of the European Council and former Prime Minister of Poland
  4. Felipe González, former Prime Minister of Spain
  5. Bill Clinton, former President of the United States and a contemporary friend of Kohl
  6. Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister and former President of Russia
  7. Emmanuel Macron, President of France
  8. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany

Other guests

Incumbent heads of state and government

Former heads of state and government

European Union leaders

Controversy

No member of the Kohl family, Kohl's children and grandchildren, attended the ceremony, owing to a feud with Kohl's controversial second wife Maike Kohl-Richter, who had among other things barred them from paying their respects to their father and grandfather after his death, ignored their wish for a ceremony in Berlin and their wish that Kohl should be interred alongside his parents and his wife of four decades Hannelore Kohl in the family tomb. Richter had also attempted to bar Chancellor Merkel from speaking and wanted to have Viktor Orbán, who has fiercely criticized Merkel's refugee policy, speak instead.