Jacques Chirac has shaped French politics for decades like few others. According to the family, the French ex-president died at the age of 86 years. Politicians around the world remember the tall Frenchman and express consternation.
A political companion Chiracs is the former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder . For the Social Democrat, the French ex-president was a great European. "He knew that Europe can only work well if Germany and France agree," said Schröder in Berlin. "The symbolically most important gesture he showed on the 60th anniversary of D-Day in 2004, when he invited me as a representative of Germany to the commemoration ceremony in Normandy," said Schröder. "He was a seasoned politician, a history-conscious European, a charming person. (...) I'll miss a man who became my friend."
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Jacques Chirac: France's "bulldozer" is deadChancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) praised the deceased as "outstanding partner and friend" appreciated. "I grieve with his family and the French people for a great statesman and Europeans," said Merkel, according to government spokesman Steffen Seibert.
EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he lost a close personal friend. "The president finds no words to express his grief," said a spokeswoman for Juncker. Chirac's political legacy for France and Europe will last forever.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) tweeted: "We lose a great statesman and Europeans". "His no to the Iraq war and his consistent processing of the Nazi crimes also by French collaborators and the Vichy government honor his memory," Maas wrote further on Twitter. "With our French friends we mourn Jacques Chirac."