Life After Politics
In 1982, along with his friend Gerald Ford, he co-founded the annual AEI World Forum.
In 1983, he joined the nationwide weekly Die Zeit newspaper as co-publisher. In 1985, he became Managing Director. With Takeo Fukuda he founded the Inter Action Councils in 1983. He retired from the Bundestag in 1986. In December 1986, he was one of the founders of the committee supporting the EMU and the creation of the European Central Bank.
Contrary to the current line of his party, Helmut Schmidt is a determined opponent of Turkey's entry into the EU. He also opposes phasing out nuclear energy, something that the Red-Green coalition of Gerhard Schröder supported. Further, Schmidt regards the climate debate “hysteric” and the IPCC reports skeptical. About the Internet, Schmidt said, he perceives it as a "threatening".
Schmidt is author of numerous books on his political life, on foreign policy and political ethics. He remains one the most renowned political publicists in Germany.
In recent years, Schmidt has been afflicted with increasing deafness.
Read more about this topic: Helmut Schmidt
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