Austria’s Ex-Chancellor Eulogized as a Great Leader of the 20th Century
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VIENNA — Former Chancellor Bruno Kreisky was eulogized today as one of Austria’s greatest and longest-serving leaders of the 20th Century at a state funeral attended by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and more than 150 other foreign VIPs.
Prime ministers or foreign ministers from 10 European states were among the dignitaries who marched behind Kreisky’s flag-draped coffin in one of the grandest funeral processions in postwar Austrian history.
Tens of thousands of Austrians stood in a steady drizzle to view the solemn procession as it wound along Vienna’s famous Ringstrasse from the Parliament building to the grounds of the Imperial Palace, seat of the old Hapsburg empire.
Kreisky, who died July 29 at age 79, was buried at the Central Cemetery, where many of the nation’s most famous politicians, musicians and artists are interred.
Besides being one of the principle architects of Austria’s permanent neutrality, Kreisky openly advocated Palestinian self-determination.
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