Helmut Kohl: Greece should not have been allowed in the Eurozone

The former German chancellor characterised that happened with Greece ‘a disgrace in German politics’

In his new book entitled “Aus Sorge um Europa” (Out of concern for Europe) that is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl lashes out against his successors , criticizing their policies on Russia and the Euro.

According to Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung newspaper that published an excerpt of the book, Kohl launches an attack against former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for allowing Greece into the Eurozone in 2001 and for letting Germany and France bend the rules of their stability pact.

Mr. Kohl characterizes these decisions as “two of the gravest mistakes that we in the EU and the euro area saw in recent years.”

“What happened here is really a disgrace in German politics and at the same time a betrayal of German-French cooperation which should never — as happened here — been allowed to be used against the stability pact,” writes the former German Chancellor.

In regard to Russia, Kohl criticized Western leaders for “isolating” Moscow during the Ukraine crisis. Mr. Kohl also characterized the decision of G7, the Group of the seven major advanced economies in the world to hold a summit without Russia in June as “drastic and depressing.”