Former West German chancellor Helmut Schmidt dies at 96

BERLIN — Former West German chancellor Helmut Schmidt died on Tuesday aged 96 and leaders from Europe and the United States praised him as an architect of international cooperation and post-war European integration.

Schmidt was then-West Germany’s second centre-left government leader from 1974 to 1982, taking office at the height of the Cold War when fellow Social Democrat (SPD) Willy Brandt was forced to resign after a close aide was exposed as a spy for Communist East Germany.

At the same time, Schmidt dealt with the consequences of the 1973-74 energy crisis caused by the Opec oil embargo, and later faced down a serious threat to West German democracy from a spree of attacks by Red Army Faction urban guerrillas.

“We are mourning Schmidt and are proud that he was one of us. We will miss his powerful judgement and advice,” tweeted current German SPD leader.

German chancellor Angela Merkel praised Schmidt as a mastermind of international cooperation whose decisions continued to have an effect today.

French president Francois Hollande called Schmidt a “great German statesman.”

“He led his country at a very difficult time and he led it towards economic stability and towards the choice of growth,” said Hollande, who added that Europe owed the existence of the euro common currency to Schmidt.

The White House said in a statement that Schmidt was “a firm, sure voice in a time of uncertainty and was widely admired for his principled approach to advancing détente while also standing firmly against aggression and violations of fundamental freedoms and human rights.”

German media said Schmidt caught an infection after having surgery to remove a blood clot from his leg about two months ago. He died in the northern port of Hamburg, his hometown.

Schmidt, a chain smoker who was in the public eye well into his 90s, became a frequent talk-show guest touching on world affairs.

He seemed to garner more respect among Germans as an elder statesman than he had when he led the country.

In his later years, he was also publisher of Die Zeit, Germany’s biggest and most respected liberal weekly.

As chancellor, Schmidt tried to balance a conciliatory tone towards the Soviet Union and East Germany – building on Brandt’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning “Ostpolitik” – with a strengthening of West Germany’s standing within Nato and the European Union. Schmidt, who was also finance minister from 1972 to 1974, was in office at the time of West Germany’s post-World War Two “economic miracle.”

Although recognising a downturn in the 1970s, he tried to make some cuts to its costly welfare state.

His most formidable challenge was the ultra-leftist Red Army Faction (RAF), whose escalating attacks on the political and business establishment included a campaign of assassinations and kidnappings that peaked in the “German Autumn” of 1977.

– Nampa-Reuters

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