Guardian of democracy

Date: 02/10/1997

THIRTY years ago, Daniel Tarschys was an exchange student at Leningrad University and a seemingly immutable Iron Curtain divided Europe into two hostile camps.

Next weekend, as secretary-general of the Council of Europe, he will be at the centre of the historic summit in Strasbourg being hosted by French President Jacques Chirac - and Russia will be one of the 40 Council of Europe members charting a common course for the continent for the 21st century.

It is perhaps no surprise, and certainly entirely fitting, that Tarschys' own career and this latest landmark in the life of Europe's first and largest international organisation should coincide at such a juncture.

With a strong background in law, political science and Soviet studies and a long-standing interest in developments in central and eastern Europe, Tarschys is ideally placed to handle the seismic changes which have overtaken the Council of Europe.

From a sleepy organisation of 23 members eight years ago, languishing very much in the European Union's shadow, it has developed into one of the premier vehicles for embedding parliamentary democracy and respect for human rights in a score of countries which have emerged from decades of Soviet domination.

While Tarschys' predecessor - former French European Affairs Minister Catherine Lalumière - found herself receiving membership applications from central and eastern Europe during her five-year stint as secretary-general, he has had to oversee the actual integration of the new members into the Strasbourg-based institution since 1994.

Accepting Russia and Ukraine, not to mention almost a dozen other former Communist countries, into its embrace has been a daunting challenge for the Council of Europe. Having a fluent Russian speaker as its head has undoubtedly helped to smooth the way, even if it may have disconcerted Russian politicians and officials who relied on language barriers to occasionally give them a natural negotiating advantage.

A recent meeting in Moscow between the Council of Europe and the Russian authorities graphically demonstrated the change in the institution's working practices and status. With Bulgaria chairing the Council's rotating committee of ministers and Tarschys present in his role as secretary-general, interpreters were dispensed with and Russian became the natural language of communication - a far cry from the days when French or English would have been the automatic first choice.

There is little doubt that Tarschys' linguistic skills stand him in good stead and he has an imposing repertoire, unlike Lalumière who stuck almost exclusively to her native French.

In addition to Russian and an excellent command of English, he is reasonably fluent in German and French and can follow conversations and debates in Italian and Spanish without relying on interpretation.

“Languages are not merely tools for communication, they also provide fascinating insights into the cultures of other people,” he says, explaining his life-long interest in languages.

It is not just linguistic skills which set Tarschys apart from Lalumière. In contrast to the somewhat regal and formal approach which the French politician brought to the post, he has introduced a more pragmatic style and a greater degree of informality.

“They are two totally different people. She was charismatic, more political and loved oratory. He is more down to earth. Whereas she might insist on a limousine, he is happy to take a taxi. He can also be very informal and at weekends he is quite happy walking around Strasbourg wearing jeans and trainers. It reflects an interesting divide between North and South in Europe,” says one official.

Asked to describe Tarschys' management style, one subordinate says: “He is tough on sticking to his principles, but is always looking for compromise and conciliation and will seek a consensual solution to a problem. Nor is he excessively hierarchical. He is quite capable of picking up a phone and speaking to an official directly.”

Tarschys was already familiar with the Council of Europe before he became, in April 1994, the first Swede, and first Liberal, to be elected as the institution's secretary-general - a post which had previously been the domain of Socialists and Conservatives.

Appointed as an alternate member to the parliamentary assembly between 1981 and 1983, he began an eight-year stint as a full member in 1986, later becoming chairman of the Liberal, Democratic and Reformers' Group.

In his latest reincarnation, Tarschys has made channelling funds to democracy-building in central and eastern Europe one of his major priorities. It is a task which has meant knocking on every available door and that persistence has led to the establishment of several joint programmes with the European Union.

If he had not become so heavily involved in the Council of Europe, Tarschys would in all probability have become rector of Stockholm University. A respected academic with doctorates from Princeton and Stockholm, he held the only Swedish professorial chair in Soviet and east European studies (at Uppsala University), served on the editorial and advisory boards of several academic journals and, since 1992, was chairman of the world-renowned Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

He combined his academic interests with journalism - both his sisters are also journalists - writing a regular column for the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter and submitting articles on political philosophy, budgetary policy and public administration. It was a combination which his father, a university lecturer in literature and a well-known radio commentator whose grandparents emigrated to Sweden from Lithuania in the late 19th century, also achieved.

But academia was only one string to Tarschys' bow. The other was politics, a passion he inherited from his mother's side of the family. Her father and brother were Liberal MPs and a great uncle was a former Swedish prime minister.

Tarschys remained in that Liberal tradition, becoming chairman of Swedish Liberal Students, participating in local politics and then entering parliament as a representative of the multi-member constituency of suburban Stockholm in 1976.

When Liberals formed a government in 1978-79, he became head of the prime minister's office - a role which combined being political coordinator of the cabinet's work with that of general trouble-shooter and liaison officer with various ministries and political parties.

During a parliamentary career spanning almost 20 years, Tarschys also chaired the social affairs committee and, shortly before moving to Strasbourg full-time, its influential foreign affairs counterpart.

Apart from brief spells in the United States and Russia, Tarschys had spent his whole life in Sweden until he took up his present post. But he has had no difficulty adapting to life in the Alsatian capital. “The cultural diversity of Europe gives me a tremendous kick. One of the things I like most about Strasbourg is listening to all the accents from different corners of the continent,” he explains.

That fondness for cultural diversity also extends to a love of music ranging from Bach and Haydn to the Beatles and Sweden's most famous pop group, Abba.

Tarschys is now more than halfway through his term as secretary-general. Perhaps mindful that none of his predecessors has ever managed a second five-year term - he defeated Lalumière when she tried to buck the trend - he has already announced that he will not seek a new mandate.

Then, perhaps, it will be time to return to the world of Swedish academia.