Speech by Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl, at the opening of the Center for German and European Studies at Brandeis University Waltham, Massachusetts, May 23, 1998

President Reinharz,
Professor Burg,
Guests of honor,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to be with you today to open the Center for German and European Studies here at Brandeis University. This is a good day for the University, for German-American relations and for the German-Jewish dialog.

The new Center will, we hope, foster American interest in Germany and Europe also beyond the confines of the academic world. It will strengthen the network of political, economic and cultural ties linking America with Germany and Europe.

Since the end of the Cold War we have a new agenda in American-European relations. While security policy remains fundamental, in future greater weight must and will be given to academic and cultural relations. We have much to learn from one another. The key to a strong partnership is to know each other and that means, as President Clinton and I both agree, above all people-to-people contacts. Accordingly, on the American as on the German side we have set up a number of new institutions and programs such as the German Program for Trans-atlantic Contacts. With this Program, financed from public funds deriving from the Marshall Plan, we are honoring also the memory of George C. Marshall. It is this Program that is providing the German funding for the new Center for German and European Studies at your University.

Ladies and gentlemen,
The teachers, researchers and students who will be working at this Center are to be envied. After all, the subject they will have the good fortune to study is one that could hardly be more fascinating - Europe in transition and, part and parcel of this, a Germany working to overcome the legacy of its decades-long division. It all amounts to a marvellous opportunity to bring a historical, political and literary perspective to the analysis of contemporary developments.

When I became German Chancellor 16 years ago, there was much talk at the time of "eurosclerosis". Many people thought the process of European unification had come to a standstill. The dream of German unity was deemed altogether utopian.

With the collapse of Communism, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, however, we see Germany and Europe now embarked on a process of incredibly dynamic change which is still far from ended.

On the political agenda the most pressing issue is the shape and content of the partnership between Europe and America in the 21st century. But to address this we need first of all to gain an impression of the new realities in Germany and Europe.

I mean that quite literally, so I am inviting you to come to Germany and see for yourselves what is happening there, particularly in the Eastern part of the country. President Clinton did just that last week. We were in Eisenach together, a city with a great past looking ahead to a great future. Today it boasts Europe's most modern automobile plant, the General Motors Opel factory. This is a truly remarkable example of the commitment shown particularly by American companies to Eastern Germany.

If you look around Eastern Germany, you will see evidence not only of an impressive new beginning but also of the damage, both material and immaterial, that is the legacy of communist rule. That leads on to the cardinal question of how the Germans after four decades as a divided nation deal with their different pasts, the different experiences they have lived through.

Over the past several years people in Eastern Germany have had to adapt to a completely new way of life. Much that was familiar has gone. That applies especially to the world of work, now totally transformed. Coming to terms with all this takes time - more time than I, too, once thought it would take. Unity in people's hearts and minds cannot be imposed from above. We Germans simply need patience with one another.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Germany has never been a homogeneous society, indeed diversity has always been its hallmark. And that is how it will be in future as well. Particular regional traits, different historical expe-riences are all part of the German identity. That accounts, too, for our taste for federalism, which we share with you Americans. It is not a centralist Europe then that we want but a European Union based on the principle of unity in diversity. We are against a Europe where there is no place for local, regional and national differences.

Yet it is also true that only by combining their energies can the Europeans rise to the economic and political challenges of the future. Only with the European Economic and Monetary Union will Europe be able to hold its own in the ever fiercer competition between the countries and regions of the world. At the same time the single currency, the euro, will give a strong boost to the political unification of Europe.

The starting date for monetary union, in which 11 European countries will be participating, is January 1, 1999. The euro will tangibly improve the climate for investment and more employ-ment in Europe and give EU citizens a greater sense of belonging. For America a European Union that is politically and economically closely integrated and soon to include also Central and Eastern European countries will be a still more valuable partner.

The century now drawing to a close is one that has torn Europe asunder. One that in the Holo-caust has revealed a dimension of evil never before seen. As the war in the former Yugoslavia has shown, the demons of the past have still not been banished for good. But the free Euro-pean nations have set a course for the future that holds out the promise of peace and freedom in the 21st century right across the continent. Power games have given way to cooperation, confrontation to integration. For this new European course the United States have lent encouragement and support, from the time of Harry S. Truman to today's President Clinton. That is something of which the Ameri-can nation can be justly proud.

To study this emerging European renaissance, to probe its innermost workings, that is indeed a rewarding task! Understanding Europe is, after all, increasingly important for its partners, as they will soon be dealing with a European Union that is larger, more diverse and also better able to take effective action. The new Europe may sometimes be a difficult but it will always be a reliable partner, firmly pledged to our shared Western values.

The unification of our continent is and will remain Germany's foremost political goal. At the same time we will remain firmly committed to the Atlantic Alliance and to the United States in particular. European unification and the transatlantic partnership are the two cornerstones of Germany's foreign policy.

Ladies and gentlemen,
I have touched on only some of the themes to be addressed by the University's new Center for German and European Studies, carrying on the distinguished tradition of Brandeis University. Here you have the intellectual resources to enable you to integrate an understanding of Germany and Europe with an in-depth knowledge of Israel and the Middle East.

As you know, the European Union at my suggestion decided in 1994 to grant Israel privileged partner status. I for my part will do all I can to make the special relationship between Europe and Israel still more vibrant in the future. In this context the new Center will, I trust, generate important ideas and momentum, especially for expanding the trilateral partnership between Europe, Israel and America.

President Reinharz, Professor Burg,
You have contributed the remarkable, indeed unique intellectual assets of Brandeis University as the intellectual start-up capital for the new Center. As an enthusiastic supporter of this initiative, I am delighted that the German Government has been able to help make this Center a reality.

Last autumn, with a successful international symposium, the Center already started its work, a demonstration of the energy and pioneering spirit I knew were here. The Center will, I am confident, make an outstanding contribution to a well-researched, open and forward-looking German-Jewish and European-Jewish dialog in the transatlantic context.

I declare open the Center for German and European Studies of Brandeis University and wish all associated with it every success, a good and productive future and God's blessing.

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