Europe mourns George H.W. Bush, recalls role in ending Cold War

Berlin hails ‘architect of German unity.’

LONDON — Leaders across Europe paid tribute on Saturday to former U.S. President George H. W. Bush following his death at the age of 94, with Germany hailing him for helping to reunify the country and end the Cold War.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said his country was mourning “a great statesman and friend of Germany.”

“We owe thanks to him not least for the reunification of our country. In 1989, at a time of radical change and challenges, as the blocs wavered and the decades-long confrontation began to crumble, he courageously seized the chance to end the Cold War,” Maas said in a statement.

“He is also an architect of German unity. He supported it without reservation from the beginning,” he said, adding this was something “we will never forget.”

“Like only a few U.S. presidents, George H. W. Bush was called upon to give orientation to his country in a period of great change,” he concluded.

French President Emmanuel Macron was one of many EU leaders to express his condolences on Twitter. “He was a world leader, who strongly supported the alliance with Europe,” he said of Bush. “Our sympathy to his family and beloved ones.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May said Bush was “a true friend to the U.K. and the trusted counterpart and confidant of two Prime Ministers.” Sending her condolences to the Bush family and American people, she said his “statesmanship, wisdom and friendship will be much missed.”

Former U.K. Prime Minister John Major, whose premiership overlapped with Bush’s presidency, told BBC radio the late president “saw America’s obligation to the world and honored it.”

“I feel privileged to have worked with him, and even more privileged that he became a lifelong friend,” Major said, adding that Bush had taught his son to fish.

“He was, quite simply, one of the most deep-down decent people I have ever known,” he said.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the former ruler of the Soviet Union who negotiated an end to the Cold War with Bush, expressed his “deepest condolences” to the Bush family.

“It was a time of great change … demanding great responsibility from everyone,” he told the Interfax news agency. Gorbachev said that he and his wife, Raisa, “deeply appreciated the attention, kindness and simplicity typical of George and Barbara Bush, as well as the rest of their large, friendly family,” the Associated Press reported.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said “the world has lost a statesman and a leader who was an example to us all.”

“I will never forget the role he played in making Europe a safer and more united place following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain,” Juncker said in a statement.

“President Bush’s calmness, leadership and close personal relationships with Helmut Kohl and Mikhail Gorbachev were decisive in restoring peace and freedom back to so many people across our Continent. We Europeans will forever remember this.”

Click Here: Tienda Atlas