Mock, Alois

(1934–)

   Born in Lower Austria, Mock entered government service and national politics in the camp of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) as a young man. A strong advocate of European integration throughout his entire career, he served from 1962 to1966 in Austria’s delegation to the Organization for European Cooperation and Development, the grouping of West European states with which Austria would be carrying on around 70 percent of its foreign trade after 1970. During the same period, Mock was the secretary and chief of staff of Josef Klaus (1910–2001), the federal chancellor, who was himself an active proponent of close Austrian economic cooperation with the west. Mock also worked in the foreign office of the Federal Republic.

   Between 1971 and 1978, Mock was chairman of the Chamber for Workers and Salaried Employees; from 1979 to 1989 he was the national leader of the ÖVP. During that time, he was also president of the anti-Marxist European and International Democratic Union and did a stint in the ministry of education. In a coalition government with the Socialist Party of Austria led by Chancellor Franz Vrantizky, Mock was vice-chancellor and minister of foreign affairs from 1987 to 1995. He also has served in the Austrian national assembly. It was as foreign minister that Mock handled the Austrian application for admission to the European Community to his French counterpart, Roland Dumas, in Brussels in 1989. An unwavering supporter of this step, Mock declared in 1990 that Austria backed both the economic and political integration of Europe, positions not altogether compatible with his country’s official neutrality. He led the delegation that negotiated his country’s entry into the European Union in 1995.

   See also Foreign Policy.