Dresden (dpa/sn) – Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) recognized the Green politician Werner Schulz, who died on Wednesday, as an important voice in German democracy. “As a GDR opposition figure, as a politician and speaker, he tirelessly emphasized the importance of dialogue, expertise and the clear commitment to democracy for our society,” explained the head of government.

Kretschmer’s deputy and Environment Minister Wolfram Günther (Greens) was concerned. “Germany loses a combative and eloquent, convinced democrat and veteran of the Green Alliance. His legacy remains,” emphasized Günther. The fact that he himself became a member of the Alliance Greens in 1997, after years of working together, is also due to Werner Schulz’s recruiting. “We already discussed strategies together in the 1990s on how Bündnis 90/Die Grünen could become ready to govern in Saxony.”

Schulz died unexpectedly on Wednesday at the age of 72 at an event on November 9 at Bellevue Palace in Berlin. From October 1990 to October 2005 he sat for the Greens in the Bundestag.