Tags
Germany's Cold War-era veteran foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, who was the country's top diplomat when the Berlin Wall fell, has died at age 89, his office said on Friday.
"Hans-Dietrich Genscher died on Thursday night at the age of 89 in the presence of his family at his home in Wachtberg-Pech, of cardiovascular failure," said a statement by his private office.
Genscher was among a select few politicians who left a strong personal mark on the course of postwar European history, and tributes poured in immediately.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's deputy spokesman Georg Streiter said "I almost feel too small... to honour this great statesman, this great European, this great German."
Genscher's marathon 1974-92 tenure as foreign minister broke longevity records in Europe and spanned some of the continent's most dramatic moments.
When he took office, Europe looked to be forever divided into two nuclear-armed camps.
When he stepped down, Germany was reunited and Soviet communism had been consigned to history.
Genscher - who served in both centre-left Social Democrat and conservative Christian Democrat governments - was a tireless advocate of consensus, European integration and East-West cooperation in the pursuit of the peaceful unification of Europe.
He strongly favoured dialogue over demonising the Soviet Union, an approach known in Germany as "Ostpolitik", and argued early that Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika (openness and restructuring) reforms presented a historic opportunity for detente.
Genscher is credited with negotiating Germany's peaceful 1990 reunification and the withdrawal of Soviet forces with his US and Russian counterparts James Baker and Eduard Shevardnadze.
His landmark moment was a 1989 speech at the German embassy in Prague, where the courtyard was packed with thousands of East Germans desperate to head west.
Genscher spoke from the balcony to announce a deal with the Czech communist government allowing them safe passage.
"We have come to you to tell you that today your departure..." he told them. The rest of the sentence is lost to history as it was drowned out by jubilant cheers.
There are no comments.
SPORT Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when you are saying farewell to those that have left a positive impression. That was the case earlier this month when Canada hosted Mexico in a friendly at BC Place stadium in Vancouver.
TECHNOLOGY Some 60mn primary-school-age children have no access to formal education
CULTURE Lekhwiya’s El Arabi scores the equaliser after Tresor is sent off; Tabata, al-Harazi score for QSL champions
ARABIA The Yemeni Minister of Tourism, Dr Mohamed Abdul Majid Qubati, yesterday expressed hope that the 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen declared by the Command of Coalition Forces on Saturday will be maintained in order to lift the siege imposed on Taz City and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged
ARABIA Some 200 teachers from schools across the country attended Qatar Museum’s (QM) first ever Teachers Council at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) yesterday.
ARABIA The Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) of Qatar and the Indonesian Supreme Court (SCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial co-operation, it was announced yesterday.
ECONOMY Sri Lanka is keen on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar as part of government policy to shift to clean energy, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply Rauff Hakeem has said.
