Kohl’s EU funeral enflames family rift

HELMUT KOHL, the giant of post-war German politics and architect of German reunification, will have only an EU flag draped over his coffin at a ceremony in Strasbourg where world leaders will gather to mark his life today.

The two-hour “European Ceremony of Honour” will hear eulogies from Bill Clinton, Russian prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, and EU leaders, including French president Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel.

EU officials hope the occasion will provide a platform from which to trumpet efforts to re-energise the pan-european project after the vote for Brexit and a surge in Eurosceptic populism.

The former chancellor’s eldest son Walter called the plans “unworthy” of his father, enflaming a feud with his stepmother Maike Kohl-richter – who married Mr Kohl when he was 78.

Mr Kohl criticised the lack of a national funeral service, which was refused by Ms Kohl-richter. He also complained about her decision to bury his father in Speyer in south-west Germany and not the family tomb in Ludwigshafen, where Mr Kohl died on June 16, aged 87. He said he would not take part in the burial.