Joschka Fischer

Joseph Martin "Joschka" Fischer (born 12 April 1948) is a German politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens. He served as Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany in the cabinet of Gerhard Schröder from 1998 to 2005. Fischer has been a leading figure in the West German Greens since the 1970s, and according to opinion polls, he was the most popular politician in Germany for most of the government's duration. Following the September 2005 election, in which the Schröder government was defeated, he left office on November 22, 2005. In September 2010 he supported the creation of the Spinelli Group, a europarliamentarian initiative founded with a view to reinvigorate the strive for federalisation of the European Union.

Early life

Fischer was born in Gerabronn in Baden-Württemberg, the third child of a butcher, whose family had lived in Budakeszi, Hungary, for several generations. Fischer's family had to leave Hungary in 1946 after it was occupied by the Soviet Union, and ethnic Germans were persecuted and expelled by the authorities. His nickname Joschka is derived from the Hungarian Jóska, diminutive of Joseph (Hungarian József). He was brought up Catholic and served in his childhood as an altar boy in his parish in Oeffingen. Fischer dropped out of high school in 1965, and started an apprenticeship as a photographer, which he quit in 1966. Because Fischer never gained a school-leaving certificate, he never attended a university or a college. He neither did compulsory military service nor the alternative civilian service for conscientious objectors, because he failed his physical examination due to poor eyesight.

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Famous quotes by Joschka Fischer:

"If a visitor from Mars came to planet earth and wouldn't get anything else to know about Europe other than the EU household, he would believe that Europe was a pre-modern continent where nothing was more important than agriculture."
"I think Iran should really bear in mind that this step is a step in the wrong direction, ... We are trying to prevent a negative trend with fatal consequences."
"It's a historic step Europe has won today. It's a big chance for both sides,"
"I'm deeply impressed by what I read, but we have an independent law court in Germany,"
"The German presidency will not seek a solution at the expense of weaker members during these difficult negotiations,"
"A solution will only be found through comprehensive balancing of interests. There must be no winners or losers,"
"It is deeply regrettable ... that these strikes could not be avoided,"
"I'm going to sit in the last row in parliament, think about things and stay silent, ... I don't have anything -- except for a good mood."
"Germany has become a different country in the last seven years,"
"If, indeed, we want to avoid a tragic confrontation, a prerequisite is that the Palestinian side grasp and understand -- and my impression is that it has grasped and understood -- that there is no more room for maneuvering,"
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Europe is crying out for leadership. After years of drift, Germany is finally ready to answer

The Observer 21 Mar 2025
The differences were too great,” he said ... It has been ugly to watch ... In 1999, led by the Greens’ foreign minister Joschka Fischer, the Bundestag voted to take part in military action for the first time since the second world war to defend Kosovo ... Share.
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