The absence of any mention of God in the preamble of the European Union's new constitution is set to spark debate again as EU leaders gather to discuss the blueprint this weekend in Italy.
 
Months after the issue had been swept aside, the question of whether God will have a place in the document that will chart the course of an expanded Europe is set to flare-up once again this weekend.
 
Italy, Ireland, Spain and new EU member Poland are likely to lead a push to get a mention of Europe's Christian roots into the constitution, which was completed in June and is being discussed by EU leaders this weekend. The EU leaders, including the heads of 10 new member countries set to join in 2004, will have to agree on the wording of the current constitution before ratifying it some time next year.
 
The current constitution - a rough draft to some countries, a completed document to others - makes no mention of God in the preamble.  The omission bothered the conservative members of the convention that drafted the constitution over the past year.
 
Along with governments like Poland and Spain, they began making calls for changes at the beginning of the year.  But opponents, among them the French president of the convention Valérie Giscard d'Estaing, won out in the end.
 
More backing for mention of God
 
Now, the countries that pushed for a mention of God are likely to get the backing of additional governments as they renew their request at the Intergovernmental Conference this weekend in Rome. Malta, set to be the smallest EU country when it joins in May 2004, threw its support behind the pro-God camp. Austria, Portugal and the Netherlands are rumoured to be joining the Pope in demanding a mention of God.
 
At stake is the importance of religion in a document that will chart the course of an expanded European Union that might one day include Muslim Turkey.
 
Opponents, chief among them the governments of France and Finland, say any mention of God would alienate the millions of Europeans who believe in other religions or are atheists.  "I don't want to provoke a religious war," Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker told a German newspaper this week. "One can believe in God without it necessary to include Him in the constitution."
 
Proponents say Europe's Christian roots are undeniable and dismiss any constitution that doesn't refer to them as unrepresentative.
 
Germany has so far tread a careful line on the dispute. While opposition politicians in the Christian Democratic Union call for a mention, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has been relatively quiet, saying the debate is a positive one.

It's been over 13 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, but Germans still have a lot to learn about each other before the mental east-west border disappears.

Thirteen years have passed since German reunification; 13 years in which East Germans and West Germans have had the chance to become acquainted with one another.

Apart from the economic problems in the new German states, there's a growing feeling of togetherness between the east and the west.

The two sides have already demonstrated that they have a common destiny. During last year's record flooding on the Elbe River in eastern Germany, aid came from all parts of Germany, both East and West.

At the same time, West Germans have shown little interest in learning more about the life of their fellow eastern German compatriots during the communist rule of the German Democratic Republic.

People cannot claim, clichés aside, to have sufficient knowledge of those times. But it is important that they do because the differences in the socialization of people that occured in both German states naturally has consequences that reach out far beyond Oct. 3, 1990.

Against this backdrop, a number of TV stations are producing GDR nostalgia programs that focus on the every day life of residents of East Germany. And there is an obvious need to engage in the issues these shows raise. Unfortunately, too few West Germans are viewing.
As things stand now, the borders between East and West Germany, which exist in the heads of most Germans, will only disappear when today's children and youth reach adulthood. Reunified Germany's new role

This generation is growing up in a Germany that has created a new role for itself in global politics. The old Federal Republic of Germany's sovereignty was always diminished because of the country's division and its need to express reserve on the stage of world politics.

But now there is an obligation for a united Germany to play a stronger role. The country is engaged in military missions in the Balkans and Afghanistan. With these missions, Germany's confidence in international politics is growing.

Germany's clear opposition to Washington's plans for war in Iraq served as a poignant example of this growing confidence. It showed a tenor that, at least in its openness, wouldn't have been imaginable earlier. That's also a byproduct of reunification, a process that has increased the international community's expectations of Germany just as much as it has changed its domestic social structure.

The more these demands increase, so must Germany's reliability and consistency, especially when it comes to issues like Berlin's role in the European Union or maintaining the German-French friendship. The importance of these tasks haven't decreased. They remain of equal importance as the integration of Germany.

The one thing the relationships have in common is this: There is no fixed terminus -- it's a process that will be a lasting challenge.

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