ECFR mourns the loss of Albert Rohan

Founding Council Member Albert Rohan has passed away at the age of 83

It is with great sadness that we have learned of the passing of Albert Rohan at the age of 83. Albert was a founding member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and has been a strong voice and an active force for European engagement and liberal values over the last few decades. As secretary-general of the Austrian Foreign Ministry, as political adviser to Martti Ahtisaari, as a member of the Independent Commission on Turkey, and as an ECFR council member, Albert was a consistent voice for Europe’s responsibility to engage with its neighbours, to promote European values, and to de-escalate conflicts. He had a rare combination of diplomatic skill, flexibility, and creativity, as well as a strong moral compass and a strategic sense. He was extremely helpful to ECFR in countless ways – not least in helping us organise an annual council meeting in his native Vienna. Albert Rohan will be much missed by everyone in the ECFR community and among committed Europeans across the continent.

Emeritus co-chair of ECFR, Mabel van Oranje, has stated:

Albert was much more than an amazing diplomat and a real gentleman. He was the embodiment of liberal values and reason. He would always focus on the crux of the matter before him, ignoring the drama that might surround it. He would deal with big policy issues in a light-hearted way. He showed time and again that progress is possible, even in the darkest of times and hardest of situations.

Albert Rohan will be missed.

The European Council on Foreign Relations does not take collective positions. ECFR publications only represent the views of their individual authors.

Authors

Global Champion, Girls Not Brides – The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

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