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reFormer French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing has passed away. He died Wednesday night at the age of 94 “surrounded by his family” on his farm in the Authon municipality, those around him told the AFP agency. His death is according to the family related to the Covid 19 disease.
The former head of state had been hospitalized several times in recent months for heart problems. “His health had deteriorated and he died from the consequences of Covid-19,” the family said in a statement. “According to his wishes, his funeral will take place in the immediate family circle.” French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Giscard d’Estaing on Thursday night as a “servant of the state” and “a politician of progress and freedom.” A message of condolence from the Elysee Palace said that he had “changed France” and his guidelines “would continue to guide our steps.”
He was head of the French state from 1974 to 1981. He had a special friendship with German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. The tall, aristocratic Frenchman and the nervous SPD politician, Schmidt, took the same direction on the international stage. For example, both high-level politicians designed the European Monetary System, which from 1979 constituted the framework for monetary cooperation between partner countries. They also defended the founding of the summits of the main economic powers. These were initially gathered in the so-called G6 format. The main representatives of Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Great Britain and the United States met for the first time in 1975 in the castle of Rambouillet, near Paris.
D’Estaing with then Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (r.) 1977 in the former federal capital, Bonn
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Image: dpa
The unification of Europe and the Franco-German friendship were part of Giscard’s lifelong work. The Frenchman, awarded the Charlemagne Prize of the City of Aachen (2003), used his office to reform and set the course. In retrospect, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing spoke of a “golden age” between France and Germany. In postwar France, his presidency marked a clear break with the conservative policies of his predecessors Charles de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou. Instead, under Giscard d’Estaing radical reforms were implemented such as legalizing abortions or lowering the minimum voting age to 18 years.
He had succeeded in “modernizing political life in France,” said former President Nicolas Sarkozy. He felt “admiration” for him. With “great intelligence”, he mastered “even the most complex international problems.” Sarkozy’s successor, Francois Hollande, said France had “lost a statesman who chose to open up to the world.” Giscard d’Estaing seemed “decidedly European” and helped to strengthen Franco-German relations.
“The European idea has lost one of its founders,” said the president of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand. France lost a former president who gave it “modernity and daring.”
