Alois Mock (10 June 1934 – 1 June 2017) was a politician and member of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). He was Vice Chancellor of Austria from 1987 to 1989. As foreign minister, he helped take Austria into the European Union.

Life

Born in Euratsfeld, Lower Austria, to August and Mathilde Mock, he studied law at the University of Vienna and later international law in Bologna and Brussels. 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 1961-66, he advised the Bundeskanzler Josef Klaus on European Economic Community and EFTA policy and for the OECD in Paris. In 1966 he became Klaus' cabinet secretary. From 1969-70 was the youngest education minister in Austrian history.

After the Nationalrat elections of 1971 - where the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) under Bruno Kreisky won a majority — he became a member of parliament and mayor of Euratsfeld. From 1971-78, he chaired the ÖAAB, the most important grouping of the ÖVP. From 1978-87 he was chairman of the parliamentary party and from 1979 was also federal party chairman. He was later to be succeeded by Josef Riegler, Erhard Busek and Wolfgang Schüssel. In 1979, Mock became the President of the European Democrat Union (EDU), and from 1983 to 1987 also of the international Christian democratic International Democratic Union (IDU). At the 1983 elections the ÖVP got almost the same percentage as Kreisky's SPÖ, who did not want to continue without an absolute majority and therefore retired.

Following the 1986 elections, from 1987 to 1989 Alois Mock was Austrian Vice Chancellor in the government of Franz Vranitzky (SPÖ). He held the position of foreign minister from 1987 to 1995, leading Austria into the European Union. He became one of Austria's most popular politicians. In June 1989, in the area of Odenburg, he cut the wire of the Iron Curtain at the fortified border with Communist neighbour Hungary, together with his Hungarian counterpart Gyula Horn. During the following months thousands of East German citizens could therefore emigrate to Austria and West Germany. This marked the beginning of the fall of Communism.

Together with Hans-Dietrich Genscher of Germany, beside the fact that the Arbitration Commission headed by Robert Badinter and set up by the Council of Ministers of the European Economic Community recommended that only Slovenia and Macedonia should be recognized as independent countries, they decided to acknowledge the independence of Croatia and Slovenia.

In November 1989 Mock was one of the founders of the Central European cooperative called Pentagonale, which later grew from 5 countries to the 18 of the CEI (Central European Initiative). In 1999 he retired from Parliament due to his Parkinson's disease. At the time of his death mock was a Member of the Advisory Board of the Global Panel Foundation, a respected NGO that works behind the scenes in crisis areas around the world.

Death

Mock died on 1 June 2017 from complications of Parkinson's disease at the age of 82.

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 (France)
• Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau (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
• Order of Stara Planina, 1st class (Bulgaria)
• Order of the Star of Jordan (Jordan)
• Grand Officer's Cross of the Order of Ummayad Syria
• Order of Diplomatic Service Merit Gwanghwa Medal (South Korea)
• Grand Cross of the Order of Bernardo O'Higgins (Chile)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Liberator San Martin (Argentina)
• Star of Mahaputera, 2nd class (Indonesia)
• Order of the Rising Sun (Japan)
• Grand Cross of the Order of St. Gregory
• Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of Romania
• 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)