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Alois Mock

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Alois Mock
Alois Mock, speaking in 1986
Alois Mock, speaking in 1986
Vice-Chancellor of Austria
In office
21 January 1987 – 24 April 1989
Chancellor Franz Vranitzky
Preceded by Norbert Steger
Succeeded by Josef Riegler
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
21 January 1987 – 4 May 1995
Chancellor Franz Vranitzky
Preceded by Peter Jankowitsch
Succeeded by Wolfgang Schüssel
Minister of Education
In office
2 June 1969 – 21 April 1970
Chancellor Josef Klaus
Preceded by Theodor Piffl-Percevic
Succeeded by Leopold Gratz
Personal details
Born 10 June 1934
Euratsfeld, Lower Austria,
Austria
Died 1 June 2017 (aged 82)
Vienna, Austria
Cause of death Complications from Parkinson's disease
Party Austrian People's Party
Education University of Vienna

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

Life

Born on 10 June 1934 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, 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 in Paris. In 1966, he became Klaus's cabinet secretary. From 1969 to 1970 was the youngest education minister in Austrian history. Following his tenure in the cabinet, Mock was sworn into the National Council on 4 November 1971. Parliamentary records show that he became an active member of the Foreign Policy Committee, where he began his long-term advocacy for European integration and negotiated policies regarding the European Economic Community (EEC).[2]

After the parliamentary elections 1971 - in which 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 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 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 European Union.[3] He became one of Austria's most popular politicians. On 27 June 1989, together with his Hungarian colleague Gyula Horn, he cut the wires of the Iron Curtain near Sopron at the fortified border to Communist neighbour Hungary.[3] This symbolic act not only signaled the opening of the border but also paved the way for new economic horizons and the dismantling of trade barriers between Austria and the former Eastern Bloc.[4] In June 1993, Mock served as the Head of the Austrian Delegation at the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna, a pivotal event that reaffirmed the international commitment to human rights following the end of the Cold War.[5] His diplomatic influence was further evidenced in late 1993 when he was invited by the French Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee for a high-level hearing regarding European affairs and international relations.[6] As a result, during the following months, thousands of East German citizens were able to exit the Eastern Bloc.[7]

In 1991, he urged Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Helmut Kohl to recognize Croatia and Slovenia as independent states as soon as possible.[8]

In November 1989 Mock was one of the founders of the Central European cooperative Pentagonale, which later grew from 5 countries to 18 of the CEI (Central European Initiative). In 1999, he retired from parliament because of Parkinson's disease. At the time of his death, Mock was a Member of the Advisory Board of the Global Panel Foundation, an NGO that works behind the scenes in crisis areas around the world.[9]

Historical Impact

The 1989 opening of the border altered Austria's geopolitical position, shifting Vienna from the edge of the Western world back to a central role within Central Europe. This transition facilitated a dynamic expansion of trade relations, through which Austrian industry established a significant economic presence in former Eastern Bloc markets. Decades later, Mock’s diplomatic contribution continues to be noted in international circles; in 2019, the 30th anniversary of the border dismantling was the subject of a diplomatic colloquium in Paris, co-organized by the embassies of Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia to examine the lasting effects of that era.[10]

Death

Mock died on 1 June 2017 from complications of Parkinson's disease at the age of 82.[11][12]

Honours and awards

References

  1. Back to citation Cook, Bernard A. (2001). Europe since 1945: an encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. p. 865. ISBN 978-0-8153-4058-4. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  2. Back to citation "Index zu den Stenografischen Protokollen des Nationalrates und des Bundesrates für die XIII. GP - Personenregister B - Dr. Alois Mock" (PDF). Parlament.gv.at.
  3. Back to citation occurrence 3.0 Back to citation occurrence 3.1 Österreich, Außenministerium der Republik. "Detail". www.bmeia.gv.at. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
  4. Back to citation "Europe unites". www.rauch.cc. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
  5. Back to citation "CONFERENCE MONDIALE SUR LES DROITS DE L'HOMME Vienne, 14-25 juin 1993" (PDF). United Nations Digital Library System.
  6. Back to citation "BULLETIN DES COMMISSIONS TABLE DES MATIÈRES traitées du 2 octobre au 23 décembre 1993 au cours des première session ordinaire et première session extraordinaire 1993-1994" (PDF). SENAT.
  7. Back to citation "Le 2 mai 1989 tombait le rideau de fer". Le Monde.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 2025-01-20. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
  8. Back to citation Allain Pellet (1992). "The Opinions of the Badinter Arbitration Committee: A Second Breath for the Self-Determination of Peoples" (PDF). European Journal of International Law. 3 (1): 178–185. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.ejil.a035802. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-29.
  9. Back to citation "Global Panel Foundation | Meeting the World in Person". Archived from the original on 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
  10. Back to citation "Autriche - Une année d'actualité - 2019". Agora Francophone (in French). Retrieved 2026-04-22.
  11. Back to citation "Alois Mock dies; aided end of Iron Curtain". Newsday. Archived from the original on June 2, 2017.
  12. Back to citation https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/06/01/world/europe/ap-eu-austria-obit-alois-mock.html?
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