Central Tibetan Administration Condoles the Demise of Otto Count Lambsdorff

Tuesday, 8 December 2009, 3:52 p.m.

Otto Count Graf Lambsdorff (R) with His Holiness the   Dalai Lama of Tibet/File Photo

The
Central Tibetan Administration has mourned the sad demise of Otto Count
Graf Lambsdorff, a leading German supporter of Tibet who steadfastly
championed the cause of Tibet on the international stage. Dharamshala: Otto Count
Graf Lambsdorff, one of Germany’s most influential politicians, has
died at the age of 82 on 5 December at a clinic in Bonn, the former
West German capital.”On behalf of the Kashag we join you in
mourning for the passing away of Count Lambsdorff,” Acting Kalon Tripa
Venerable Tsering Phuntsok said in a condolence message to Countess
Lambsdorff.”In his passing away, we Tibetan have lost a steadfast friend who did so much to advance the just cause of the Tibetan people.”All the Tibetan people join you and your family in this moment of deep personal loss.”You have lost a good husband, Germany a great leader and we Tibetans a strong and steadfast friend.”Under
his chairmanship of the Friedrich-Naumann Stiftung, the Central Tibetan
Administration has been able to organise the International Tibet
Support Groups Conferences in Bonn in 1996, in Berlin in 2000, in
Prague in 2003 and in Brussels in 2007. We have also been able to set
up the Tibetan Parliamentary and Policy Research Centre in New Delhi
with the active co-operation and financial assistance of the Friedrich
Naumann Foundation. All these assistance have enabled us to highlight
issue of Tibet in an unprecedented way on the international stage and
we remain deeply grateful to your husband,” the message noted.Count
Lambsdorff was honorary chairman of the FDP, which is junior partner in
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right coalition.  He served as West German economics minister from 1977-1982, and again from 1982 until 1984.  He was also chairman of the FDP from 1988 – 1993.