This is Google's cache of http://www.isgp.eu/organisations/introduction/PEHI_Otto_von_Habsburg_bio.htm. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on 8 Nov 2009 10:13:01 GMT. The current page could have changed in the meantime. Learn more
Text-only version
These terms only appear in links pointing to this page: isgp eu

back

Otto von Habsburg

Born in Lower Austria in 1912 as a member of the Royal House of Habsburg, who have been allies of the Vatican for many centuries. Eldest son of Archduke Karl and Princess Zita von Bourbon-Parma. The Habsburg dynasty was, and is, very close to the Thurn und Taxis family (1001 Club) and the Vatican. During WWI his family lost the throne to the Habsburg kingdom. The Austrian parliament officially expelled the Habsburg dynasty and confiscated all of its property. Opposed the Nazi Anschluss of Austria in 1938 and went to the US (with help of the Knights of Malta). Spent most of the war years in Washington (1940-1944), after escaping from Austria to Portugal with a visa issued by the Portuguese consul in Bordeaux. He became friends with FDR, George F. Kennan (the father of the Containment policy), Felix Frankfurter, Winston Churchill and other important individuals. One of his main opponents at the time was Pilgrims Society member Lord Halifax (important to UN and pro-Nazi), who bluntly asked him: "Are you pursuing your intrigues even here?". Cordell Hull, pro-Vichy and pro-UN, was another opponent of Otto. Part of a mainstream bio: "A member of Koudenhove-Kalergi's Paneuropa Union since 1936 [24 years old then], Dr. Otto von Habsburg represented the organization in Washington D.C. beginning in 1940. In close collaboration with his brothers, the Archdukes Rudolf, Robert and Karl Ludwig, he convinced President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill to regard Austria as a victim state of Nazi aggression. Based on this recognition, Archduke Robert and Winston Churchill, who favored a postwar reconstitution of a Danube confederation forged the Moscow Declaration of 1943, which prepared for Austria's independence at the conclusion of the war." The Paneuropa Union was founded in 1923 in Vienna by Count Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, the son of an Austro-Hungarian (Habsburg) diplomat. Early leading members were Aristide Briand and Austrian chancellors Ignaz Seipel and Karl Renner. Opus Dei was founded in 1928 and at least in later times this group's objectives would essentially merge with those of the Paneuropa Union: 1) keep the Soviets out of Europe, and 2) create a Roman Catholic-oriented European superstate. Kalergi was of the opinion that Britain should be kept out of Paneuropa since it managed an autonomous empire. Unlike Russia, Turkey belonged to Asia and also should not be included in Paneuropa, according to Kalergi. The Paneuropean Union is also responsible for the 12 stars on a blue ground as official symbol for Europe, which symbolizes the stars of the virgin Mary. After the war Otto lived in exile in France and Spain. In Spain he received a secondary formal education by Benedictine fathers. An article in Lobster Magazine claimed that the impoverished Otto was subsidized to the tune of £50,000 a month by MI6 chief Stewart Menzies from 1939 to 1953. In 1949, together with Opus Dei member Alfredo Sanchez Bella (August 21, 1964, The Frederick News, 'Rev. Dr. Thorning Returns From Europe': "In Rome, Father Thorning was the guest of Spanish Ambassador Alfredo Sanchez Bella"; November 4, 1969, Greeley Daily Tribune, 'Economic, Social Advancement Aims of New Franco Cabinet': "[Alfredo] Sanchez Bella, aside from his own talents as a diplomat, is the brother of Florencio Sanchez Bella, leader of the Opus Dei in Spain."; Bella was Ambassador to Rome until November 1969), Otto founded the European Centre of Documentation and Information (CEDI), "whose objective was to construct around the Spanish Borbóns a federation of European states united in Christianity and anti-Communism. This sounded very much like a modern resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire over which Charles V had reigned. Like the Spanish empire of old, the envisaged Catholic federation was intended to have large-spectrum antennae in Latin America and the United States. CEDI was believed to be an auxiliary operation of Opus Dei. Although headquartered in Munich, it held its annual general meetings at the Monastery of El Escorial, near Madrid, and it continued functioning throughout the Cold War. Its tentacles spread among Catholic Monarchist circles throughout western Europe... [Otto] reportedly became one of Opus Dei's most treasured Old Guard supernumeraries. Like Opus Dei, CEDI published no membership lists, but the president of its Belgian chapter, Chevalier Marcel de Roover, was known to have close ties with the Belgian royal family. Indeed, Archduke Otto's nephew, Lorenz von Habsburg, son of international banker Karel von Habsburg, married Princes Astrid of Belgium [daughter of King Albert II, who stands accused of child abuse in the Pinon Affair, not unlike other members of the royal family; chairwoman Belgian Red Cross; patron Belgian Kids Foundation for Pediatric Research. The support committee of the Belgian Kids Foundation includes the wife of Count Maurice Lippens, who [the husband] stands accused of some of the most horrific child abuse practices. The support committee is presided over by Count Jean Pierre de Launoit, whose name once appeared on a list of people accused of involvement in trade in children and drugs. Nobody has been prosecuted], daughter of King Albert II. Astrid's aunt, the former Queen Fabiola, was related through the House of Aragon to the Spanish Borbón family. Professor Luc de Heusch of the Free University of Brussels, an expert on Sacred Kingship, maintained tha Queen Fabiola, a disciple of Escrivá de Balaguer [founder of Opus Dei], 'introduced Opus Dei to the Catholic aristocracy of Europe.' An idea of the company gathered from the membership of a sister organization, the Pan-European Union, headquartered in Zurich. An idea of the company CEDI kept can be gathered from the membership of a sister organization, the Pan-European Union, headquartered in Zurich. Also headed by Archduke Otto, among its members were two Belgian prime ministers, an Italian industrialist close to the Vatican, a former French prime minister, his legal counsellor, an aide to Valery Giscard d'Estaing, the secretary of Giscard's Independent Republican Party... the deputy head of NATO's intelligence division, a director of West German intelligence, the Spanish ambassador to the European Community and Alfredo Sanchez Bella." (1997, Robert Hutchinson, 'Their Kingdom Come', p.153-154). CEDI stood in close contact with the Belgian Cercle des Nations, which was a gathering place for Brussels fascist aristocracy which was founded in 1969. On the next page Hutchinson writes: "Otto is chairman for life of the CEDI. Married Princess Regina Von Sachsen-Meiningen in 1951 with the blessing of Pius XII. Vice-president of the Internationale Paneuropa-Union 1957-1972, working under Count Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi. His Opusian associate Jean Violet founded the Pinay Circle (Le Cercle) in the 1950s, one of the most influential behind-the-scenes anti-communist and pro-Europe organizations, which was, and is, riddled with questionable intelligence operatives. Otto's CSU (Bavaria) and CDU (the rest of Germany) party friends, Franz-Joseph Strauss (a hard-right politician), Count Hans Huyn (intermarried with Habsburg family), and Alois Mertes (important German politician in early 1980s) have all been leading members of both Le Cercle and the ultraconservative anti-communist faction in German politics. They are all suspected of having been members of Opus Dei. In 1959, Otto received the Knight Grand-Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta with the Cross of Honorary Professed Member. One of Otto's political secretaries, Jacques G. Jonet, is named as a co-founder of low-profile ultraconservative/fascist European-integration groups as Ordre du Rouvre, the Institut Européen pour la Paix et la Sécurité (IEPS), the Société Internationale de Wilton Park (Wilton Park conferences), and Cercle des Nations. Opusian Cercle founder Jean Violet was one of the few French members of Cercle des Nations (1990, Hugo Gijssels, 'De Bende & Co.', p. 130), together with Belgium's controversial hard-right aristocracy. Jonet was named as an individual that attempted to crush the Pinon investigation of the late 1970s and early 1980s, in which leading Cercle des Nations members like the Opusian Paul Vanden Boeynants, not to mention members of the Royal House of Belgium (counts Opus Dei and SMOM members in the family), were accused of child abuse. Jonet has been named as a member of Mouvement d'Action pour l'Union de l'Europe (MAUE), the Habsburg-founded Centre of Documentation and Information (CEDI), and CEPIC (of the Opusian Baron de Bonvoisin and Paul Vanden Boeynants, both named as child abusers in the Dutroux X-Files by a combination of X1, X2, and X3). Jonet is suspected of membership in Opus Dei and is the representative of the Belgian Order of Malta, while his wife is a member of the administrative council (anno 2006). In 1961, Otto finally renounced all claims to the Austrian throne and was eventually allowed to return to his home country in 1966. CEDI, earlier founded by Otto von Habsburg, had a secretary general named Paul Vankerkhoven, who became a member of the Ordre du Rouvre, the ultra right-wing catholic magazine Chantiers-Occident, and the fascist Cercle des Nations. Vankerkhoven was a co-founder and vice-chairman of l'Institut Europeen de Developpement, headquartered in the castle of the earlier-mentioned Baron de Bonvoisin. Vankerkhoven also founded the Belgian branch of the ultra-reactionary World Anti-Communist League (WACL), the 'Ligue Internationale de la Liberte' (LIL). The WACL was sponsored by the Sun Myung Moon sect and aristocrats like Count Hans Huyn and Otto von Habsburg were involved with it in Germany, at least in the late 1980s. Otto co-founded the Académie Européenne de Sciences Politiques, located in Brussels, somewhere in the 1960s or early 1970s. It was an ultraconservative Paneuropa affiliated group, managed by the Opusian Cercle founder Jean Violet and Paul Vanden Boeynants, also Opus Dei, is said to have been one of its prominent members. When Franco's regime was challenged in the late 1960s by members of Opus Dei and other reformer, Franco designated Prince Juan Carlos as king of Spain at the moment Franco died. It has been claimed that Franco initially invited Otto von Habsburg to become the new king, but Otto refused and recommended Juan Carlos. Franco, Juan Carlos, and Otto von Habsburg all were Knights of Malta. When Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi died in 1972, Otto followed him up as provisional president of the Internationale Paneuropa-Union. At the suggestion of French president, Paneuropa- and Cercle member Georges Pompidou Otto was elected official president in 1973. He still served in this position anno 2006. January 2004, Contemporary Review, 'Otto von Habsburg and the future of Europe': "Archduke Otto was the right-hand man of Count Coudenhove-Kalergi, and when the Count died in 1972, the leadership of Paneuropa fell to him. Since then he has been the President. When interviewed in 1986, Otto von Habsburg was insistent that Paneuropa still had work to do, and would not be subsumed in the European Community (as it then was) itself. " Anno 2006, Otto is an advisor to the Coundenhove-Kalergi Foundation, together with Count Hans Huyn, Jakob Coudenhove-Kalergi (nephew of Richard, the founder of the Paneuropa Union), and Prince Carlo della Torre e Tasso (Thurn und Taxis). Nikolaus von Liechtenstein (younger brother of Hans-Adam) is an executive member of the the Coundenhove-Kalergi Foundation. In December 1973 Otto gave a speech to the Benedictine monks at the Woodside Priory School on San Francisco's peninsula. Hosts for the luncheon were Phil Gregory of Raytheon (Philip L. Gregory; one of the buyers of Raytheon in the 1940s, with what would become his wife (Raytheon was originally founded by Vannevar Bush in 1922-1925; Pilgrims Society member and president-descendant Charles Francis Adams IV would sit on the board of Raytheon from 1938 to 1997); executive director of Raytheon, first in New England and then in California until 1979; founded the Semiconductor Equipment Materials International (SEMI) with two colleagues in 1970, the non-profit group that presents semiconductor manufacturers trade forums worldwide; president, chairman, and executive director of SEMI; he and his wife traveled extensively in building SEMI internationally; among their tours was a trip in the early 1970s to Beijing, China, right after Kissinger, Rockefeller, and Nixon had "opened it up"; his wife was active in numerous catholics groups, including the Legion of Mary) and Bill Keady Jr., president of Advalloy (November 19, 1973, San Mateo Times, 'Dr. Von Habsburg to Speak'). Also reported by the San Mateo Times of that day: "Two distinguished visitors will be in the Bay Area next month and both will be guests of honor at Dec. 6 events at the Fairmont Hotel... Dr. Otto von Habsburg, son of the last emperor and king of Austria-Hungary, will be honored by the Woodside Priory School at a formal dinner dance... That noon, Monsignor John Patrick Carroll-Abbing, founder and president of Boys' Towns of Italy, will attend the Oscar de la Renta fashion show and luncheon benefiting Girls' Town of Italy (a part of Boys Towns)." Member of the European Parliament for the CSU 1979-1999, the party of his reactionary Opusian Cercle friends Franz-Joseph Strauss, Count Hans Huyn, and Alois Mertes. Among the foreign policy advisors to the Hanns Seidel Stiftung (Hanns Seidel Foundation) since 1975 (established in 1967), as well as the Kuratoriums Mitglied of the Ludwig Frank Stiftung (Ludwig-Frank Foundation). The Hanns Seidel Foundation, based in Germany, receives funding from the European Union. The foundation is a geopolitical trust attached to the Bavarian CSU party (the Bavarian Christian Democrats) of the Strauss, Mertes, Huyn, and Edmund Stoiber. It was active on all continents in funding anti-communist militias. July 2005, The Trumphet, 'From the Editor: German Election Crisis—and a New Charlemagne': "Here is what Mr. Armstrong’s Plain Truth staff wrote, September 1979: “On the United Nations, he [Otto] has declared that the organization is dominated by ‘anti-European illiterates, despots and cannibals.’... “Possibly von Habsburg’s most controversial suggestion has been his recipe for dealing with national emergencies. In the April 1978 issue of his conservative publication Zeitbühne, he suggested that in certain emergency situations (such as nuclear blackmail or other major acts of terrorism) governments should let a strongman take over for a period of nine months, allowing him to suspend laws and ‘take all measure necessary for the maintenance of the life of the population.’... Interestingly, von Habsburg counts Bavarian leader Franz Josef Strauss among ‘the few full-blooded politicians’ who ‘in the case of serious national crises are able to accept responsibility because of their clear-sightedness and indomitableness.’ Von Habsburg says he is ‘personally pretty close to his [Strauss’s] ideas in many ways on the European unity subject"... The zenith of Habsburg power came in the 16th century under Emperor Charles v. Chosen by electors in 1519 at the age of 20, Charles was crowned Holy Roman emperor by Pope Leo x in October 1520. He ruled until 1556 and is considered to have been the greatest monarch to bear the imperial crown since Charlemagne. He was the last emperor to vigorously attempt to realize the medieval idea of a unified empire embracing the entire Christian world... Christopher Hollis, in the foreword to von Habsburg’s book The Social Order of Tomorrow, points out that Otto ‘would like to see Europe resume her essential unity, and in the symbolism of that unity he thinks that the imperial crown of Charlemagne and of the Holy Roman Empire might well have its part to play.’ “Inter-European unity has long been a quest of the Habsburg dynasty. Otto himself often speaks of the similarities between the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and his view of a coming United States of Europe. In this regard, Otto has stressed the importance of religion in the formation of a united Europe. He regards Christianity as Europe’s bulwark: ‘The cross doesn’t need Europe, but Europe needs the cross.’" The pope has also spoken out against Liberal Anglo-Saxon politics. Otto was a member of the Hilfskomitee Freiheit für Rudolf Hess (Freedom for Rudolf Hess Committee), which advocated the release of the former Thulist and number two in Hitler's early regime. Hess had secretly flown to England in May 1941, almost certainly trying to establish a peace between Hitler and the British Empire (through the opponents of Churchill affiliated with the British royal family) so both could attack Russia. Unfortunately for Hess, he was caught. After the war he was held in a prison until his death, mainly because the Soviet Union did not approve of his release. The Action Committee for the Freedom of Rudolf Hess made it to the international news a few times in the 1970s. SMOM member Kurt Waldheim, the secretary general of the United Nations who had to resign in 1986 after he was accused of war crimes, was a favorite of Otto. Otto was honored by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in February 1988. On 19 August 1989 he was the Patron of the Paneuropean-Picnic in Sopron, which was a protest against the Iron Curtain. Since 1988 he worked on the extension of the Paneuropa Union into the countries behind the Iron Curtain, on the independence of the Baltic States from Moscow, and of Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzgovina and Macedonia from Belgrade (Serbia). He is considered an enemy of the Serbs. When Croatia (90% roman catholic) and Slovenia (84% roman catholic) withdrew from Yugoslavia, the Vatican immediately supported the action, together with the German government. 1994, Jean-Paul Picaper, 'Otto de Habsbourg: Memoires d'Europe', pp. 209-210 (Otto to a Figaro correspondent): "If German recognized Slovenia and Croatia so rapidly, even against the will of [then German foreign minister] Hans-Dietrich Genscher who did not want to take that step, it's because the Bonn government was subjected to an almost irresistible pressure of public opinion. In this regard, the German press rendered a very great service, in particular the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Carl Gustav Strohm, that great German journalist who works for Die Welt." In the late 80s and early 1990s, Otto invited leaders from Croatia and Slovenia to the European Parliament. He visited these countries and stated they should prepare themselves for a place in the European Union. Habsburg and his allies warned about Milosevic, who had just become a prominent former-communist socialist nationalist and wanted to unite all land where a significant amount of Serbians (mainly eastern orthodox christians) lived. Civil wars followed in which the Serbians ultimately were driven back south and east into Serbia. German, US, an UK intelligence services, together with special forces, were secretly funding the (also quite brutal) opposition to Serbia. NATO also bombed the Serbs twice. Otto had called for the bombing of Belgrade (capital of the Serbs) in 1993. Some fear that Otto would like to see Serbia removed from the map, as he blames this nation for the downfall of his beloved Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 2005 Carla Del Ponte, chief prosecutor of the UN international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, claimed that the Vatican protected suspected war criminal general Ante Gotovina, a hero in Croatia. Before becoming a general in the Croatian army, Gotovina fought in the French Foreign Legion; then became a close collaborator of the hard-right Jean-Marie Le Pen. In good tradition of the Nazi ratlines, the Vatican allegedly hid him in a monastery. September 20, 2005, The Telegraph, 'Vatican accused of shielding 'war criminal'': "Carla del Ponte, the chief prosecutor of the UN international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, said she believed that Gen Ante Gotovina was being sheltered in a Franciscan monastery in his native Croatia... She said: "I have information he is hiding in a Franciscan monastery and so the Catholic Church is protecting him. I have taken this up with the Vatican and the Vatican refuses totally to co-operate with us." In July, Mrs del Ponte travelled to Rome to share her intelligence with the Vatican's ''foreign minister'', Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo. He refused to help, telling her the Vatican was not a state and thus had "no international obligations" to help the UN to hunt war criminals. Mrs del Ponte complained: "They said they have no intelligence and I don't believe that. I think that the Catholic Church has the most advanced intelligence services."" In 1989, he said to the European Parliament: "The [European] Community is living largely by the heritage of the Holy Roman Empire, though the great majority of the people who live by it don’t know by what heritage they live." Otto has met with Pope John Paul II to discuss at length the subject of European integration. In early 2006 he met with the new pope, Benedikt XVI (Ratzinger), whom he had already known. From September to December 2004 he travelled to Kosovo, Zurich, Rome, Vienna, Tyrol, Madeira, Croatia, London, again to Vienna, Paris, Strasbourg, Spain, Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Budapest, and three times to Hungary. In November 2002 the Austrian weekly Zur Zeit published an interview with Otto von Habsburg in which he had said: "If we consider America's internal politics, then we find that it is split in two halves. On the one hand, the Defense Department, in which the key positions are held by Jews; the Pentagon is today a Jewish institution. On the other hand, the blacks are in the State Department: for instance, Colin Powell or especially Condoleezza Rice. It is an internal conflict between hawks and doves. Currently, the Anglo-Saxons, that's to say the white Americans, are playing a relatively minor role." On April 20, 2005 National Public Radio (NPR) interviewed Otto and asked him about these comments. He confirmed what he said earlier and added: "There are many nationalities making up America. There are four states that in twenty years will have a majority of Spanish language [citizens]; and I don't think that's a catastrophy. It's a very good thing. I'm already well located. I have many children and all my children speak Spanish too." In the interview he's clearly hinting two or three times to the fact that he wants northern Africa to become part of the European Union. Otto thinks the rejected 2005 EU Constitution should be rewritten and reintroduced. Made a speech in German and French praising Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (former French president; like Habsburg, a good friend of Opusian Cercle founder Jean Violet; prominent member Paneuropa Union; received the Charlemagne award; Knight of Malta; Giscard's father had close connections to the Synarchy and Opus Dei) when this person was head of the Draft Treaty that should have established a Constitution for Europe. 2005, Ausgabe 2-3, Eurojournal pro management, p. 14, committee member Otto von Habsburg: "The original wording of the Constitution draft by Giscard d'Estaing was quite short and comprehensible. So why did it fail to convince the voters? This is plain: a campaign launched with the help of a book thick with legal terminology which, the bureaucrats hoped, voters would read and comprehend. Much money was spent, but nothing was gained. A Commission full of aged politicians to work on the draft which spoilt it just as "too many cooks spoil the broth". Giscard d'Estaing knew what would happen with his initial draft, and later photographs show the expression of a man in desperation who knew that should this revamped version fail, then he would be responsible anyway... No attempt was made to reach out to future generations as did the late pope John Paul II or as Pope Benedict XVI now does; two old men who somehow managed and manage to enthuse the masses. It is therefore no wonder that the battle was lost; the idea however still lives on, but we need new politicians to bring the idea home to voters." Giscard's initial draft version delegated a lot of authority to the EU presidency, who would be elected to serve for five years instead of the previous method of a six month rotation between all EU members. The European Council, the body made up of the heads of state of the member countries, would do the electing on the basis of Qualified Majority Voting. Giscard, who now favored the name United Europe, made many other proposals and was widely attacked for trying to reduce the influence of smaller EU countries, the commission and the European Parliament. Giscard did not see an EU president being directly elected by the European people "for another 50 years." Like Otto, Giscard d’Estaing is absolutely against Turkey joining the European Union. Tuesday 28 February 2006, Valery Giscard d'Estaing, speech at the London School of Economics entitled 'The Political Future of Europe' (transcript posted at website of LSE): "Let's be clear about this: the rejection of the Constitutional Treaty in France was a mistake, which will have to be corrected. Was the mistake due to the over-complicated presentation of the draft, or the choice of a referendum [public vote...] at a time when politicians were highly unpopular? It doesn't much matter. Everyone has accepted the democratic verdict, whatever their regrets. But the main victim has been a Treaty, which, according to the opinion polls, the French were not against. At a time when second chances are the order of the day, the Constitutional Treaty will have to be given its second chance. When? When France has completed her great electoral debate, with the presidential and parliamentary elections which are due to be held 14 months' time, in spring 2007. How? By refocusing the debate on the only genuinely constitutional parts, that is to say, the first part, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights demanded by the European Left, neither of which have given rise to much protest. Then the third part could follow a parliamentary route, which is far better suited to its legal nature." In this speech Giscard proposed that the two first parts of the Constitution could be subject to a new referendum, whereas the third and more controversial part would be subject to a parliamentary vote. On May 23, 2006 the Financial Times quoted Giscard d'Estaing as saying: "It is not France that has said no. It is 55 per cent of the French people - 45 per cent of the French people said yes... I wish that we will have a new chance, a second chance, for the constitutional project." Otto concurs and added in 2006 "A short, clear constitution text must go", suggesting the average person in the EU is interested in reading the document. April 09, 2002, Christian Science Monitor, 'Europe, prepare to greet Islam': "For centuries, the ruling Habsburgs defended the Continent against the expansion of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Now Mr. von Habsburg makes it clear that all nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea – including those in North Africa and the Middle East – have a place in his broad vision for tomorrow's Europe." In other interviews Otto indeed claimed that as far as he is concerned, Africa starts with the Sahara. The small strip above it should still be included in Europe. Otto is also happy to see that Central and Eastern Europe starts to have more and more influence in the rest of Europe. When Otto von Habsburg visited the United States in April 2005, one of the few people he spoke with in private was Henry Kissinger. Also interviewed by a few newspapers during his visit to the United States. April 18, 2005, Washington Times, 'Habsburg, 92, has eye on future': "The Cosmos Club's windows were ablaze with light... talk centered on Archduke Otto's lifelong quest to build and expand the European Union. "Ten new states have recently been admitted, and we are waiting for others, especially Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and the Ukraine," he told a reporter... Archduke Otto, amazingly hale and hearty at 92, readily admitted the EU was "already too big and unwieldy" but said that shouldn't matter: "The new [member states] will be better Europeans than the old because they know the totalitarian alternative. They will enrich us enormously." Later, he praised the Ukrainians for courageously taking to the streets to ensure democratic rule." Official supporter of Europe for Christ, which was founded in July 2005 and aims to insert the values of catholicism in the European constitution and the life of Europeans. The Vatican was "surprised" in 2003 that there was no specific reference to God and Christianity in the proposed EU constitution, even though the general importance of religions and spirituality on human society was in fact mentioned. Otto supports the Vatican on this issue. In November 2005 Otto denounced Putin as a KGB dictator and spoke in favor of Khodorkovsky, the famous oligarch, being released. Bavaria is known to have made large investments in Russia since the Oligarchs came to power. February 5-6, 2004, European Navigator/Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe, Otto von Habsburg interview in which he replies to the question what he thinks were the key players in European integration (translated from French): "Charles de Gaulle in the first place. Certainly one of the big visionaries of Europe... I will certainly also say Adenauer. Adenauer with his Rhenish vision because the Rhine plays a fundamental role in this Europe... Coudenhove, certainly; and... Schuman... I put them at the same level... Coudenhove said: "You know, it is awfully difficult to make Europe with the English, but without them, it is impossible" That is very true. And in case of France, that's also true. There are a lot of difficulties with the French, but we cannot make it without them. They are an essential element to us and without De Gaulle... France would have collapsed completely." February 5-6, 2004, European Navigator/Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe, Otto von Habsburg interview in which he replies to the question what he thinks about Jean Monnet (translated from French): "Jean Monnet had a role, an important role, but he certainly was not the only one... the relations between Monnet and Coudenhove were not exactly very intimate... I was on the side of Coudenhove during the whole time, because I agreed with his vision. Jean Monnet was rather a technocrat and Coudenhove was a prophet and a visionary. It was that big of a difference, in my opinion." In the end the only differences between Monnet and Otto seem to be that Otto is taking things slower and has traditionally not really been concerned with Britain entering the European Union, as this was not an original Paneuropean objective. Otto von Habsburg has been named as a member of the Order of Malta, a member of Opus Dei, and a member of the Mont Pelerin Society (a branch of the Paneuropa Union). Prominent Catholic and a patron of the Augustan Society. Former sovereign of the Order of the Golden Fleece, which has now become his son. King Juan Carlos of Spain is head of the only other Order of the Golden Fleece. Has also been named as a member of the controversial Order of Zion, if it even exists, or existed. Other rumors about the Order of Zion have named Cercle members Alain Poher and Giulio Andreotti. Otto and his wife reside at the Villa Austria in Pöcking, Bavaria, Germany.

Otto von Habsburg's oldest son, Karl Habsburg (b. 1961), who is to be the future head of the Habsburg family, married Baroness Francesca von Thyssen-Bornemisza in 1993. Baroness Francesca is the daughter of Baron Hans Heinrich von Thyssen-Bornemisza, who was a member of the 1001 Club. They had three children in the 1990s, whose godmother is Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, the wife of the late Prince Johannes von Thurn und Taxis. Karl is president of the Pan Europa Union in Austria and currently serves as the elected OVP Party representative of Austria to the European Parliament. His son Georg von Habsburg is a Hungarian diplomat to the EU and his daughter, Countess Walburga Douglas, is a Pan Europa representative, politician and author.

The Habsburg Empire did not entirely end after WWI. Currently HSH Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein is a Habsburg monarch. He also has close ties to the Vatican, is a member of the Knights of Malta, and at least a supporter of Opus Dei. Hans Adam's younger brother sits on the board of the Coudenhove-Kalergi Foundation, together with Otto von Habsburg, Count Hans Huyn, Jakob Coudenhove-Kalergi (nephew of Richard, the founder of the Paneuropa Union), and Prince Carlo della Torre e Tasso (Thurn und Taxis). Hans Adam is known to have a lot of interest in the UFO/alien issue. He had an interesting conversation about this subject with Dr. Steven Greer. According to Greer, Hans Adam is a radical end-of-the-world fanatic who privately claims aliens have invented all the world's religions. According to Greer, Hans Adam claimed to him that one of his brothers was kidnapped by aliens. Greer says he has spoken to people in the US who claimed Hans Adam's brother indeed was abducted; not by aliens, but by a human stagecraft team to bring him aboard of a certain agenda.

back