Prof. Dr. Andreas Khol

(Former President of the Austrian National Council)

Biography

Andreas Kohl is an Austrian politician of the center-conservative Austrian People's Party, President of the National Council from 2002 to 2006.

Career

Mr. Kohl was the founding Executive Secretary of the European Democratic Union in 1978, founded by Josef Taus as party Chairman with Helmuth Kohl, Margaret Thatcher and Jacques Chirac as the International Christian and Conservative parties acted as a counterweight to the Socialist International. He held this office until 1994 and made it an important auxiliary tool for the integration of Austria into the EU and the incorporation of new like-minded parties in the new democracies after the fall of the Iron Curtain.

The Hon. Andreas Kohl is one of the most senior politicians of his party, he held the position of the first president of the National Council of Austria between 2002 and 2006. Along with former chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, he holds considerable power within the Austrian People's Party.

Achievements

Together with other Austrian People's Party, he founded a Catholic layman alliance that calls for the abolition of celibacy in the Roman Catholic priesthood and the ordination of women deacons. Mr. Kohl has received recognition in the subject of constitutional law as a student of Felix Ermacora.

"What Made the Walls in Europa Fall 25 Years Ago?"

The Annual Conference on Cultural Diplomacy (Berlin; November 8th, 2014)