22/10/2015 President
The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Anne Brasseur, today extended sincere condolences on behalf of the PACE and on her own behalf to the family of Louis Jung, former French senator and member of the PACE, and paid tribute to a fervent champion of the European project and Council of Europe values:
“As a member of the Assembly from 1969 to 1995, Louis Jung marked the history of the Parliamentary Assembly particularly by presiding over it from 1986 to 1989. He distinguished himself by his spirit of openness and tolerance and his unshakeable European conviction. We shall remember the words he uttered when welcoming His Holiness Pope John Paul II to Strasbourg in October 1988: "If the men of my generation had not been able to forgive, the Council of Europe would not have been created".
Nor shall we forget his bold, visionary move in October 1988 to invite Mikhail Gorbachev to the Council of Europe. In July 1989, he was the first Eastern Bloc Head of State to speak in the Council of Europe Assembly Chamber. A few years later, East European countries were to join the Council of Europe.
Mr Jung was a man of conviction, staunchly upholding the European project and the values of our Organisation, for which he was an exceptional and tireless ambassador. His sincere dedication earned him the respect of his peers, and I wish to commend him for the action which he pursued in and on behalf of our Assembly and the Council of Europe for almost 30 years.
In him the Parliamentary Assembly has lost one of its prominent figures but also a true friend. We shall remember his exceptional human qualities, his profound humanity and his immense personal commitment.”