Meanwhile, Steyrer lamented, ''The attacks by the (World) Jewish Congress have evoked emotions that were not favorable to me.''Īnd the leader of the People`s Party, Alois Mock, said, ''There was solidarity with Dr. ''The results show the population does not accept the charges against me,'' said Waldheim, who blamed what he called ''private institutions'' for the allegations that he was a war criminal. It was the biggest presidential margin of victory in Austria`s postwar history and showed that 7.5 million conservative Austrians are not deterred by fear of repercussions from abroad. Kurt Steyrer, Waldheim`s Socialist opponent, drew 2,107,317 votes, or 46.1 percent. Interior Minister Karl Blecha declared People`s Party candidate Waldheim the winner with 2,464,598 votes, or 53.9 percent of the valid ballots cast. British opposition Labor Party politicians called on the government to bar Waldheim from entering Britain. In 1977, Waldheim was awarded an honorary degree of doctor of sciences from Moscow State University for his fruitful activities in the area of international cooperation and for his active struggle to strengthen peace and friendship among peoples.- The Soviet Union praised Waldheim`s record at the United Nations and alleged Washington and ''Zionist circles'' had mounted a campaign against him to try to influence the Austrian election. Waldheim holds honorary doctor of laws degrees from a number of foreign universities. In 1971 he was the candidate of the Austrian People’s Party for president of Austria. He served as minister of foreign affairs from 1968 to 1970. Waldheim was Austria’s permanent representative to the United Nations from 1964 to 1968 and again in 19. He was director-general for political affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1960 to 1964. In the period 1956 to 1960, Waldheim served first as minister to Canada and then as ambassador. From 1951 to 1955 he headed the personnel division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He entered the Austrian diplomatic service in 1945. The son of a civil servant, Waldheim graduated from the Vienna Consular Academy in 1938 and from the University of Vienna, where he received a doctor of laws degree, in 1944. Secretary-general of the United Nations (1972–81). 21, 1918, in Sankt Andrä-Wördern, Lower Austria. Beckermann, dir., The Waldheim Waltz (documentary, 2018).īorn Dec. See his memoir (1986) and autobiography (1999) R. His tenure as president was marked by international isolation, and he did not run in 1992. Nonetheless, many felt he must have known more than he revealed, and the allegations overshadowed his diplomatic and political legacy. He consistently denied any knowledge of the atrocities, and an international investigation cleared him of complicity. In 1986 he was elected president of Austria, despite the scandal caused by the revelation that he had been an officer in a German army unit that committed atrocities in Yugoslavia during World War II. He was succeeded as secretary-general by Javier Pérez de Cuéllar. He was reelected in 1976 despite Third World opposition, but was blocked from a third term by a Chinese veto in 1981. Austria's permanent representative to the United Nations (1964–68), he later served (1968–70) as Austria's foreign minister and lost (1971) an election for the Austrian presidency.Įlected to a five-year term as UN secretary-general in Dec., 1971, Waldheim attempted, with little success, to end the Iran-Iraq war and the China-Vietnam war and to gain the release of American hostages in Iran. When Austria entered the United Nations in 1958, Waldheim was a member of its delegation. He entered diplomatic service after World War II, serving in France and Canada. Waldheim, Kurt (ko͝ort vältˈhīm), 1918–2007, Austrian diplomat, secretary-general of the United Nations (1972–81) and president of Austria (1986–92).
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