Kohl: No Need to Panic Over Neo-Nazi Party

Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl said on Tuesday there was no need to panic over Germany's small neo-Nazi party and it would be pointless to ban the group. Speaking to a group of foreign journalists, the retired German leader expressed his concerns about German-American relations. "I'm not going to lose my head over a few right-wing radicals," he answered when asked about the government's attempt to ban the far-right National Democratic Party that was blocked by the Constitutional Court. "It's annoying when neo-Nazis are on the march as they are in Saxony," he said, referring to the NPD winning 9.2 percent in an election in Saxony state. "I'm ashamed. It's bad for Germany because the annihilation of millions of Jews was conceived here. But Germany is a healthy country. It's not at all endangered by neo-Nazis." Kohl contended that a ban would be pointless as it would result in the party coming back at another level.