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