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Wolfgang Schüssel

Wolfgang Schüssel
Flickr - europeanpeoplesparty - EPP Sumiit 15 May 2006 (11).jpg
21st Chancellor of Austria
In office
4 February 2000 – 11 January 2007
President Thomas Klestil
Heinz Fischer
Deputy Susanne Riess-Passer
Herbert Haupt
Hubert Gorbach
Preceded by Viktor Klima
Succeeded by Alfred Gusenbauer
Vice-Chancellor of Austria
In office
4 May 1995 – 4 February 2000
Chancellor Franz Vranitzky
Viktor Klima
Preceded by Erhard Busek
Succeeded by Susanne Riess-Passer
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
4 May 1995 – 4 February 2000
Chancellor Franz Vranitzky
Viktor Klima
Preceded by Alois Mock
Succeeded by Benita Ferrero-Waldner
Personal details
Born (1945-06-07) 7 June 1945 (age 71)
Vienna, Austria
Political party Austrian People's Party
Alma mater University of Vienna
Religion Roman Catholicism

Wolfgang Schüssel (German pronunciation: [ˈvɔlfɡaŋ ˈʃʏsəl]; born 7 June 1945) is an Austrian People's Party politician. He was Chancellor of Austria for two consecutive terms from February 2000 to January 2007. While being recognised as a rare example of an active reformer in contemporary Austrian politics, his governments were also highly controversial from the beginning, starting with the fact that he formed a coalition government with Jörg Haider's Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) on both occasions. In 2011, he retired from being an active member of parliament due to a multitude of charges of corruption against members of his governments.

Born in Vienna, Schüssel attended that city's Schottengymnasium, a well known Roman Catholic gymnasium for boys, where he took his Matura exams in 1963. He went on to study at the University of Vienna, receiving a Doctorate in Law in 1968.

Schüssel was secretary of the parliamentary group of the Austrian People's Party from 1968 to 1975. From 1975 to 1991, he was Secretary General of the Austrian Business Federation, a sub-organization of the Austrian People's Party.

He became Minister for Economic Affairs on 24 April 1989 in a coalition government under Chancellor Franz Vranitzky (SPÖ) formed by the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP).

On 22 April 1995, at the 30th Party Congress of the ÖVP, Schüssel was elected chairman of the Austrian People's Party. He took over the chairmanship in a coup succeeding Busek and replacing the party’s ministers in the governing coalition.

On 4 May 1995, Schüssel was sworn in as Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs in Franz Vranitzky's fourth government. He held the same posts in Chancellor Vranitzky's fifth Cabinet. In Chancellor Viktor Klima's (SPÖ) first government, from 28 January 1997 to 4 February 2000, Schüssel was again Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs.


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