Helmut Schmidt

Washington was always a powerful force behind what became the European Union, although, paradoxically, it was dissatisfaction with US economic leadership, or lack of it ("benign neglect") in the 1970s that led West German chancellor Helmut Schmidt and French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing to embark on the adventure of the European Monetary System (EMS), which led, in turn, to the eurozone.

The euro crisis demands leadership, wherever it comes from 2011

Helmut Schmidt, the 92 year old former chancellor of West Germany and a chief architect of the project of European integration, said as much in a speech on October 19.

Shadi Bushra: The Eurozone: Nation-States With Benefits Shadi Bushra 2011

Helmut Schmidt, the 92 year old former chancellor of West Germany and a chief architect of the project of European integration, said as much in a speech on October 19.

Shadi Bushra: The Eurozone: Nation-States With Benefits Shadi Bushra 2011

The West German chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, described the US position as "thoroughly dangerous" and a "clear and present danger of a third world war".

UK discussed plans to help mujahideen weeks after Soviet invasion of Afghanistan 2010

Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle; Willy Brandt and Georges Pompidou; Helmut Schmidt and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing; and Helmut Kohl and Francois Mitterrand managed to subordinate the natural national egos of their great nations to forge and advance some shared sense of commonality as they constructed a post-national Europe.

Who's in Charge Here, Anyway? Denis MacShane 2010

Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle; Willy Brandt and Georges Pompidou; Helmut Schmidt and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing; and Helmut Kohl and Francois Mitterrand managed to subordinate the natural national egos of their great nations to forge and advance some shared sense of commonality as they constructed a post-national Europe.

Who's in Charge Here, Anyway? Denis MacShane 2010

Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle; Willy Brandt and Georges Pompidou; Helmut Schmidt and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing; and Helmut Kohl and Francois Mitterrand managed to subordinate the natural national egos of their great nations to forge and advance some shared sense of commonality as they constructed a post-national Europe.

Who's in Charge Here, Anyway? Denis MacShane 2010

Another good call would be former chancellor Helmut Schmidt.

Germany has new Queen, needs new President. | afoe | A Fistful of Euros | European Opinion 2010

And if all this were not enough, then Helmut Schmidt, the 92-year-old former German chancellor, also gave an interview attacking current German foreign policy as having a tendency towards "Wilhelmine pomposity" – a clear reference to the misguided tendencies that led to the first world war.

Germany feels the weight of history Ilana Bet-El 2010

In an article in Die Zeit last week, Helmut Schmidt and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing dismissed the new British government as an irrelevance and said Hague was "a committed anti-European".

Horst Köhler's resignation is bad for Germany, for Europe and for politics 2010