Alois Mock (10 June 1934 – 1 June 2017) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n politician and member of the

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is curre ...

(ÖVP). He was Vice Chancellor of Austria from 1987 to 1989. As

foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

, he helped take Austria into the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

Life

Born in

Euratsfeld Euratsfeld is a town in the district of Amstetten in Lower Austria in Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a fed ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

, to August and Mathilde Mock, he studied law at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hi ...

and later

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

and

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. In Vienna, he became a member of K.A.V. Norica Wien, a Roman Catholic student fraternity, which is a member of the Cartellverband. From 1961, he advised Austrian chancellor Josef Klaus on European Economic Community and EFTA policies. From 1962 till 1966, he worked at Austria's mission to the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...

in Paris. In 1966 he became Klaus's cabinet secretary. From 1969 to 1970 was the youngest education minister in Austrian history. After the

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

elections 1971 - in which the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) under

Bruno Kreisky Bruno Kreisky (; 22 January 1911 – 29 July 1990) was an Austrian social democratic politician who served as Foreign Minister from 1959 to 1966 and as Chancellor from 1970 to 1983. Aged 72 at the end of his chancellorship, he was the oldest ...

won a majority — he became a member of parliament and

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

. From 1971 to 1978, he chaired the ÖAAB, the most important grouping of the ÖVP. From 1978 to 1987, he was the leader of the ÖVP parliamentary group, and from 1979, he also was ÖVP federal party chairman. He was later to be succeeded by Josef Riegler, Erhard Busek and Wolfgang Schüssel. In 1979, Mock became

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the European Democrat Union (EDU), and from 1983 to 1987 also was president of the International Democratic Union (IDU). At the 1983 elections, the ÖVP obtained nearly the same percentage as Kreisky's SPÖ. Kreisky didn't want to go on without an absolute majority and stepped down. Following the 1986 elections, Alois Mock was Austrian vice chancellor in the government of Franz Vranitzky (SPÖ) from 1987 to 1989. From 1987 to 1995, he was foreign minister, leading Austria into the

. He became one of Austria's most popular politicians. In June 1989, together with his Hungarian colleague Gyula Horn, he cut the wires of the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its ...

near Sopron at the fortified border to

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

neighbour Hungary. As a result, during the following months, thousands of

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

citizens were able to exit the Eastern Bloc In 1991, he urged Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Helmut Kohl to recognize

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

as independent states as soon as possible. In November 1989 Mock was one of the founders of the Central European cooperative Pentagonale, which later grew from 5 countries to the 18 of the CEI (

Central European Initiative The Central European Initiative (CEI) is a forum of regional cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe, counting 18 member states. It was formed in Budapest in 1989. The body was developed on the basis of earlier experiences with The Alps-Adriatic ...

). In 1999, he retired from parliament because of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...

. At the time of his death Mock was a Member of the Advisory Board of th
Global Panel Foundation
an NGO that works behind the scenes in crisis areas around the world.

Death

Mock died on 1 June 2017 from complications of

at the age of 82.https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/06/01/world/europe/ap-eu-austria-obit-alois-mock.html?

Honours and awards

* Grand Gold Medal with Ribbon for Services to the Republic of Austria *Golden Commander's Cross with the Star of Honour for Services to the province of Lower Austria *Grand Gold Medal of the province of Upper Austria *Medal of Tyrol *Large Order Montfort of Vorarlberg *Carinthian Order in Gold * Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany * Grand Cross of Merit of the Italian Republic *

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...

(France) *Grand Cross of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

(Netherlands) *Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein * Grand Order of King Dmitar Zvonimir (Croatia) * Order of the Dragon of Bosnia * Mother Teresa Medal (Albania) *Grand Cross of Merit of the Republic of Cyprus *

Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Order Zasługi Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident a ...

* Order of Stara Planina, 1st class (Bulgaria) * Order of the Star of Jordan (Jordan) *Grand Officer's Cross of the Order of Umayyad Syria * Order of Diplomatic Service Merit Gwanghwa Medal (South Korea) *Grand Cross of the

Order of Bernardo O'Higgins The Order of Bernardo O'Higgins ( es, Orden de Bernardo O'Higgins) is an award issued by Chile. It is the highest civilian honor awarded to non-Chilean citizens. This award was established in 1965 and named after one of the founders of the Chilean ...

(Chile) *Grand Cross of the Order of the Liberator San Martin (Argentina) * Star of Mahaputera, 2nd class (Indonesia) *

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight f ...

(Japan) *Grand Cross of the Order of St. Gregory *Grand Commander of the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the defunct Order of Michael the Brave. It is awarded by the President of Romania. It has five r ...

*Grand Order of Merit of South Tyrol *Peace Connection Mostar (Bosnia-Herzegovina) *Commander's Cross with the Star of Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary *Great merit of the Province of South Tyrol (Alto Adige) *National Order of faithful service in the rank of Commander (Romania)

References

External links

The Global Panel Foundation
, - , width="30%" align="center" , Preceded by:
Josef Taus , width="40%" align="center" , Chair of the Austrian People's Party
1979–1989 , width="30%" align="center" rowspan=2, Josef Riegler , - , width="30%" align="center" , Preceded by:
Norbert Steger , width="40%" align="center" , Vice-Chancellor of Austria
1987–1989 , - , width="30%" align="center" , Preceded by:
Peter Jankowitsch , width="40%" align="center" ,

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

1987–1995 , width="30%" align="center" , Succeeded by:
Wolfgang Schüssel , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mock, Alois 1934 births 2017 deaths Burials at Döbling Cemetery Austrian Ministers of Defence Foreign ministers of Austria Members of the National Council (Austria) Neurological disease deaths in Austria Deaths from Parkinson's disease Vice-Chancellors of Austria Austrian People's Party politicians Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Commander's Crosses with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil) Recipients of the Legion of Honour Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Grand Crosses of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Gregory the Great Recipients of the Order of the Star of Romania