The former German chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl, yesterday condemned as scandalous the squabbling among European Union member states over how many refugees to accept from Kosovo and predicted that all the Balkan states would one day be members of the EU.
Pointing out that Europe has never been as prosperous as it is today, Dr Kohl said that the EU should send a strong signal of humanity and solidarity to the 500,000 ethnic Albanians who have been driven from their homes in Kosovo.
"It is scandalous, this arguing over refugees. I don't understand how we can have a row like this," he said.
Germany indicated this week that it is willing to double its intake of refugees to 20,000 but Bonn is angry that other EU states are behaving less generously. Britain, which has so far accepted only 330 refugees, is the main target of German outrage but senior figures have also criticised Ireland's lack of hospitality.
"Ireland can't stay outside NATO, so that it's defence costs are practically zero while it receives more from the EU than almost anybody else and not ask if it should be doing more here," said one senior politician.
Dr Kohl feels particularly strongly about Europe's obligations towards refugees, not least because his wife, Hannelore, was one of millions of Germans forced to flee their homes at the end of the second World War.
"When I watch television pictures of refugees, my wife is sitting beside me and she says: `I can't watch it anymore.' Because she was a refugee herself," he said.
Dr Kohl has been active behind the scenes in the search for a diplomatic solution to the Kosovo crisis, using his friendship with President Yeltsin to reassure Russia about the West's intentions in the region.
The former chancellor believes that the Balkan crisis confirms the truth of his controversial statement that European integration is a question of war and peace and he predicted that all the states in the region, including Serbia, would become EU members.
"That means that all those countries would have to fulfil all the conditions for joining the EU. That includes recognising borders and offering full, civic freedom as well as fulfilling economic criteria," he said.
Dr Kohl has maintained a low profile since his defeat in last September's election but he revealed yesterday that he is planning a return to the political stage after next month's European elections.
The former chancellor, who ruled out accepting any EU post, announced his return to the limelight as his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) published a policy paper calling for the EU to draw up a written constitution.
The party leader, Dr Wolfgang Schauble, and his European Affairs adviser, Mr Karl Lamers, created a storm of controversy four years ago with a paper identifying the need for a hard core of EU states to press on with integration at a faster pace than the rest.
The new proposal has received a quieter reception, not least because the CDU is now in opposition.
Dr Schauble said he hoped to bring together a group of senior statesmen and other public figures from each EU member state to discuss the content of what he called Europe's "constitutional treaty".
Although the proposal would intensify European political integration, the paper stresses the importance of subsidiarity and aims to set limits to the competence of the Brussels bureaucracy.
Dr Schauble said that he hopes the paper will dispel the impression that the CDU has lost its enthusiasm for Europe since Dr Kohl's departure.