Editing Helmut Kohl (section)

=== Life after politics ===
[[File:Vladimir Putin 6 March 2002-1.jpg|thumb|Kohl and [[Vladimir Putin]] in 2002]]
In 2002, Kohl left the Bundestag and officially retired from politics. Later, he was largely rehabilitated by his party. After taking office, Angela Merkel invited her former patron to the Chancellor's Office and Ronald Pofalla, the Secretary-General of the CDU, announced that the CDU would cooperate more closely with Kohl, "to take advantage of the experience of this great statesman".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/cdu_aid_102341.html|title=Kohl ist wieder stärker gefragt|website=Focus.de|access-date=6 December 2017|archive-date=19 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719132247/http://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/cdu_aid_102341.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 4 March 2004, he published the first of his memoirs, called ''Memories 1930–1982'', covering the period from 1930 to 1982, when he became chancellor. The second part, published on 3 November 2005, included the first half of his chancellorship (1982–90). On 28 December 2004, he was air-lifted by the Sri Lankan Air Force, after having been stranded in a hotel by the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Es war wie nach einem Bombenangriff|url=http://www.stern.de/lifestyle/leute/helmut-kohl--es-war-wie-nach-einem-bombenangriff--3547690.html|work=Stern|access-date=18 June 2015|language=de|date=30 December 2004}}</ref> Kohl was a member of the [[Club of Madrid]].<ref name="cdm">{{cite web|url=http://www.clubmadrid.org/cmadrid/index.php?id=161|title=Helmut Kohl|publisher=Club of Madrid|access-date=1 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014222641/http://www.clubmadrid.org/cmadrid/index.php?id=161|archive-date=14 October 2007}}</ref>

As reported in the German press, he also gave his name to the ''Helmut Kohl Centre for European Studies'' (currently ''Centre for European Studies''), which is the new political foundation of the [[European People's Party]]. In late February 2008, Kohl suffered a stroke in combination with a fall which caused serious head injuries and required his hospitalisation, after which he was reported to be using a wheelchair due to partial paralysis and having difficulty speaking.<ref>[http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008/05/14/story_14-5-2008_pg4_5 "Ailing former German chancellor Helmut Kohl marries"], ''Daily Times'', 14 May 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/former-german-chancellor-in-hospital-concerns-grow-over-helmut-kohl-s-health-a-548676.html ''Former German Chancellor in Hospital: Concerns Grow Over Helmut Kohl's Health''], ''Der Spiegel'', 21 May 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20090509-19173.html "Weakened Helmut Kohl appears in public after operation"], ''The Local'', 9 May 2009</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/20130125003510/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hrh6dqJ6W74wIlziZdewYHzu35_w ''Kohl, Bush, Gorbachev remember Cold War in Berlin''], AFP, 31 October 2009.</ref> He remained in intensive care since, marrying his 43-year-old partner, Maike Richter, on 8 May 2008, while still in hospital. In 2010, he had a gall bladder operation in Heidelberg,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bunte.de/newsline/helmut-kohl-altkanzler-uebersteht-operation-gut_aid_14807.html|title=Helmut Kohl: Altkanzler übersteht Operation gut |language=de|website=Bunte.de|date=3 February 2010|access-date=3 December 2015}}</ref> and heart surgery in 2012.<ref>[http://www.thelocal.de/national/20120904-44753.html "Kohl has heard surgery to tackle health problems"], ''The Local'', 4 September 2012</ref> He was reportedly in "critical condition" in June 2015, following intestinal surgery following a hip-replacement procedure.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/02/helmut-kohl-former-german-chancellor-in-critical-condition|title=Helmut Kohl, former German chancellor, in 'critical condition'|first=Kate|last=Connolly|date=2 June 2015|work=The Guardian}}</ref>

[[File:HelmutKohl.PNG|thumb|right|Kohl in 2012]]
In 2011, Kohl, despite frail health, began giving a number of interviews and issued statements in which he sharply condemned his successor Angela Merkel, whom he had formerly mentored, on her policies in favour of strict [[austerity]] in the [[European debt crisis]] and later also towards Russia in the [[Russo-Ukrainian War]],<ref name="BI">Alessi, Christopher; Raymunt, Monica (214). [http://www.businessinsider.com/r-germans-wary-of-merkels-tough-line-on-russia-2014-25?IR=T ''Most Germans Don't Want Merkel To Punish Russia Further''], ''[[Business Insider]]'', 25 April 2014</ref> which he saw as opposed to his politics of peaceful bi-lateral European integration during his time as chancellor. He published the book ''Aus Sorge um Europa'' ("Out of Concern for Europe") outlining these criticisms of Merkel (while also attacking his immediate successor Gerhard Schröder's Euro policy)<ref>Hildebrand, Jan; Specht, Frank (2014). [https://global.handelsblatt.com/edition/46/ressort/politics/article/the-kohl-warrior ''The Kohl warrior''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101235637/https://global.handelsblatt.com/edition/46/ressort/politics/article/the-kohl-warrior |date=1 January 2016 }}, [[Handelsblatt]], no. 46, 4 November 2014</ref><ref>Marsh, David (2014). [http://www.marketwatch.com/story/germanys-kohl-rips-his-successors-over-euro-russia-2014-11-03 ''Germany's Kohl rips his successors over euro, Russia''], [[MarketWatch]], 3 November 2014</ref><ref name="WSW">Schwarz, Peter (2014). [http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/12/10/geru-d10.html ''German elite divided over policy toward Russia and the US''], [[World Socialist Web Site]], 10 December 2014</ref><ref>(2014). [http://vestnikkavkaza.net/analysis/politics/61712.html ''Reasons for Kohl's criticism of Berlin's policy on Russia''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427223300/http://vestnikkavkaza.net/analysis/politics/61712.html |date=27 April 2016 }}, Vestnik Kavkaza, 3 November 2014</ref> and was widely quoted in the press as saying, "{{lang|de|Die macht mir mein Europa kaputt}}" ("That woman is destroying my Europe").<ref>(2011). [https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article13491463/Die-macht-mir-mein-Europa-kaputt.html ''""Die macht mir mein Europa kaputt"'' ("She's destroying the Europe that I have built")], [[Die Welt]], 17 July 2011 (in German)</ref><ref>(2011). [http://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/kohl-kritisiert-merkel-die-macht-mir-mein-europa-kaputt_aid_646632.html ''"Die macht mir mein Europa kaputt"'' ("She's destroying the Europe that I have built")], [[Focus (German magazine)|Focus]], 17 July 2011 (in German)</ref><ref>(2011). [http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/schuldenkrise-helmut-kohl-rechnet-mit-merkels-europapolitik-ab-a-774875.html ''Schuldenkrise: Helmut Kohl rechnet mit Merkels Europapolitik ab'' (EU debt crisis: Helmut Kohl denounces Merkel's Europe policy)], ''[[Der Spiegel]]'', 17 July 2011 (in German)</ref><ref>Jung, Jacob (2011). [https://www.freitag.de/autoren/aredlin/altkanzler-kohl-uber-merkel-201edie-macht-mir-mein-europa-kaputt201c ''Altkanzler Kohl über Merkel: "Die macht mir mein Europa kaputt"'' ("Former chancellor Kohl on Merkel: 'She's destroying the Europe that I have built'")], ''[[Der Freitag]]'', 17 July 2011</ref><ref>(2011). [http://www.morgenpost.de/politik/inland/article1704192/Helmut-Kohl-ruegt-Angela-Merkels-Eurpoapolitik.html ''Helmut Kohl rügt Angela Merkels Europapolitik'' ("Helmut Kohl apprehends Merkel over Europe policy")], [[Berliner Morgenpost]], 17 July 2011.</ref> Kohl thus joined former German chancellors Gerhard Schröder and Helmut Schmidt in their similar criticisms of Merkel's policies in these two fields.<ref name="BI"/><ref name="WSW"/> In 2011, he also criticised Merkel for committing to nuclear power phaseout by 2022, following the [[Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster]], saying that a nuclear phase-out would "make the world a more dangerous place", that risks are a part of life and Germany should instead focus on "taking precautionary measures and minimizing risks".<ref>{{Cite news|date=25 March 2011|title=Nuclear Moratorium 'Overly Hasty': Helmut Kohl Weighs in on Reactor Debate|language=en|work=Der Spiegel|url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/nuclear-moratorium-overly-hasty-helmut-kohl-weighs-in-on-reactor-debate-a-753125.html|access-date=4 October 2021|issn=2195-1349}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=25 March 2011|title=Helmut Kohl über die Atom-Krise: Warum wir die Kern-Energie (noch) brauchen|url=https://www.bild.de/politik/2011/helmut-kohl/schreibt-ueber-die-atom-krise-17072266.bild.html|access-date=4 October 2021|website=Bild|language=de}}</ref>

On 19 April 2016, Kohl was visited in his Oggersheim residence by Hungarian prime minister [[Viktor Orbán]]. The two had a one-hour conversation and released a joint press statement regarding the [[2015 European migrant crisis]], saying they doubted that Europe was capable of continuing to absorb refugees indefinitely.<ref name=orbanvisit>{{cite web|last1=Simon|first1=Frank|title=Hungary's Orban, Germany's Kohl say EU ability to absorb migrants limited|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-kohl-orban-idUSKCN0XG2CC|work=Reuters|access-date=20 April 2016|date=19 April 2016}}</ref> Before the meeting, it had widely been interpreted as criticism of Angela Merkel's handling of the crisis,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Blitz|first1=James|title=Helmut Kohl snubs one-time protégée Angela Merkel|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bba6561e-0618-11e6-a70d-4e39ac32c284.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bba6561e-0618-11e6-a70d-4e39ac32c284.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=Financial Times|access-date=20 April 2016|date=19 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Kálnoky|first1=Boris|title=Kohl und Orbán machen Front gegen Merkel|url=http://diepresse.com/home/politik/aussenpolitik/4969409/Kohl-und-Orban-machen-Front-gegen-Merkel|publisher=Die Presse|access-date=20 April 2016|language=de|date=18 April 2016}}</ref> but Kohl and Orbán refrained from attacking the chancellor directly, writing: "It is about a good future for Europe and peace in the world. The efforts of Merkel point in the same direction."<ref name=orbanvisit/><ref>{{cite web|last1=Weiland|first1=Severin|title=Orbán trifft Kohl: Die Revolution von Oggersheim fällt aus|url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/helmut-kohl-und-viktor-orban-meiden-harte-kritik-an-angela-merkel-a-1088037.html|work=Der Spiegel|access-date=20 April 2016|language=de|date=19 April 2016}}</ref>

In 2016, Kohl sued [[Random House]], his former ghost writer Heribert Schwan and co-author Tilman Jens for publishing without his consent 116 comments allegedly made by Kohl during interviews in 2001 and 2002 and published in an [[unauthorised biography]] in 2014 called ''Legacy: The Kohl Protocols''. By April 2017, a German court ordered publisher Random House and the two journalists to pay Kohl damages of 1 million euros ($1.1 million) for violating his privacy, making it the highest judgment ever rendered for violations of privacy rights under German law.<ref>Andrea Shalal (27 April 2017), "[https://www.reuters.com/article/germany-kohl-idUSL8N1HZ8NN Germany's Kohl wins record damages for unauthorised quotes]", [[Reuters]].</ref>