Following the unexpected death of the Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Austria, Liese Prokop, on the evening of 31 December 2006,  the German Federal Minister of the Interior and President of the Council of EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers, Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble, on behalf of the  Federal Republic of Germany and the Council of EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers, expressed the sympathy of the Federal Government in a letter of condolence addressed to the Austrian Federal Chancellor, Dr. Wolfgang Schüssel, on 1 January 2007.

The letter reads:

Dear Chancellor Schüssel,

I was deeply shocked and grieved to hear of the sudden death of Minister Liese Prokop.

On behalf of all the Ministers of the Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Union, I wish to express my most sincere condolences and sympathy.

In recent years, Minister Prokop played a decisive role, in particular at the European level, in shaping cooperation on security issues not only among Member States, but also with neighbouring countries. Here, I would like to highlight the “Partnership for security” between the European Union and the countries of the western Balkans launched under the Austrian EU Presidency. Minister Prokop was instrumental in bringing forward measures of the European Union to fight terrorism and organized crime, and gave the decisive impetus to strengthening and reforming Europol.

I personally recall with pleasure the many diverse and sincere talks I had with her, and I am also indebted to her for particularly valuable ideas for the dialogue with Islam.

We, the Justice and Home Affairs Ministers of the European Union, will remember Liese Prokop with the deepest respect.

With heartfelt sympathy,

Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble