Angela Merkel's acceptance speech as president of Germany's CDU was
particularly assured for a woman from East Germany, who was born after the
foundation of the CDU.
Possibly her period thinking about the alternatives to East German state
socialism has given her a theoretical base which she can combine with
skilled manoeuvring as the CDU tries to extricate itself from the era of
illegal funding under Kohl.
Significant were the the tilt away from centralisation of Europe in
Brussels and the gesture of solidarity with Austria's People's Party, which
has gone into coalition with Haider's Freedom Party.
It echoes a sharpening of the rhetoric by the British Conservative Party
against immigrants.
Chris Burford
London
--- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
