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Fischer will be in Colombo today on an official visit.

by Lalith Ganhewa in Berlin

Joschka Fischer, the present foreign minister of Germany is the most popular German politician since years. The change of his career from "Scene-Sponti" through Taxi driver over to the "Tennis Shoe minister" of the federal state Hessen, and from there on to head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to be the vice-chancellor of Germany describes one of the probably most unusual as well as a successful German careers.

Joseph Martin Fischer, better known as Joschka Fischer, in Germany was the son of a Hungarian German butcher born in 1948. He began to learn Photography after he ended his O/L, but broke off after sometime and starts to travel far and wide across Europe and middle east.

As a young man he earns his living with various jobs; among others he drove a taxi around Frankfurt Germany. By 1967 Joschka was married for the first time. He and his wife both were intensively involved in Student movements in and around Frankfurt.

Through these Student circles he was introduced to the philosophies of Marx, Mao and was a guest listener at the lectures of famous "left oriented" university professors Adorno and Habermas. Both these men were highly respected philosophers. Between 1968 and 1975 he belonged to the militant group "revolutionary fight", which gained public attention by forcible house occupations and violent public actions like fighting with the German police. One of these incidents brought him behind bars for few days too and even throw a shadow years later when he became the foreign minister.

Fischer lost faith in his revolutionary illusions when German RAF Terrorists kidnapped and assassinated the prominent German personality Hans Martin Schleyer, president of the Employers Federation in 1977.

The assassination shook Germany for many months. He turned his back to the revolutionaries and moved towards the Anti-Atom Power Energy and Pro Ecology movement, which led him to be a member of the political party "The Greens" in 1980. By 1983 the Green Party gets 5.6 % Votes for the first time and come to the German parliament the Bundestag.

Within the green party, Joschka belonged to the so called "Realos" - pragmatic greens. This group was willing to make small compromising changes in their political vision, instead of demanding hard for fundamental changes - better known as "Fundis" in Germany.

Fischer ascends as the first Green cabinet minister in Germany and headed the Ministry of Environment in the federal state Hessen which ruled with a coalition government of SPD and the Greens. It was sensational Tabu breaking issue in federal parliament of Hessen, when Joschka Fischer dressed jeans and tennis shoes came for the oath taking ceremony.

Also during this time in 1984, he got married for the second time where he already was the father of two children born in 1979 and 1983 with the Lady of his second marriage.

As Germany re-united in 1990, the "Green party" from the west and "Bundniss 90" party from the east merged together, But the party was in a deep crisis. Joschka Fischer had a good share of power in his hands in the new green alliance. He implemented a party reform in favour of "Realos" - the pragmatic greens. He also remained in the Hessen cabinet as minister until 1987. By this time the rising star of the Greens were married for the 3rd time. Re-elected in 1991, he remained as the environmental minister and the deputy chief minister of Hessen until 1994 and resigned to make the Greens a governmental party in Germany.

In October 1998 Joschka Fischer achieved his goal. The Greens became the coalition partner with chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's SPD party. Fischer was appointed foreign minister and the vice-chancellor of Germany.

When Germany was discussing whether to participate or not on NATO attacks in Serbia to stop ethnic clencing, Fischer justified and took responsibility together with chancellor Schroeder, defence minister Scharping, for their action. But the party base of the greens was again in a rumort.

Fischer argued that pacifism had to be discarded in the face of genocide and ethnic cleansing. On the eve of the party congress, Joschka Fischer was attacked with a bag of liquid colour which injured his right ear. Even though many of his party was not favour of it, Fischer demanded in the German parliament, the deployment of German armed forces in Bosnia in order to protect humans against the consequences of the civil war. With a hair thin majority, the Fischer Schroeder coalition got through the Bundestag - the German parliament on NATO participation.

Fischer's hard assertiveness ability has increased reputation nationally and Internationally. His mediatory achievements has convinced him in the Middle East as an excellent diplomat. He drew his own plans for the reform of the European Union. It is an open secret that to an extend there are difficulties in the relationship with the USA. In the Afganistan crisis Germany was on the side of USA.

After the attacks from 11 September in New York the German Government extended their "unrestricted solidarity". But in the German elections to the Bundestag 2002 and with the military procedure of the USA against Saddam Hussein, Fischer was out right against attacks. It was due to his influence that Germany did not support USA. The EU was divided, Fischer was criticised massively by some countries. Pressure was heavy on Germany from USA.

But Fischer stood courageously and led Germany to the correct decision. In front of a large international gathering, at the 39th Conference of Security Policy in Munich, the German foreign minister slashed right out in anger at Donald Rumsfeld, saying "Excuse me. I am not convinced" - going to war with Iraq. "You have to make the case in a democracy,". This was exactly what the majority of Germans wanted to hear from their foreign minister. This one line played an important role in the general election in Germany and gave another term of office for the Green SPD coalition.

Time has healed the wounds between Germany and USA, showing silently how right Joschka Fischer was. He made a point to show the EU partners the importance of making decisions from an European angel.

This it self catapulted him to be the most promising candidate for the first foreign minister of the EU. But joschka decided stay with Chancellor Schroeder and run for another term of office in Germany in 2006. There was always some kind of sensation around Joschka Fischer all a long the way since he joined the Greens.

But more sensational flavour was added to his public appearances, during the time when he was newly appointed as the foreign minister. He was Jogging living mostly on fruits and vegetarian food. He took part in huge public marathon running like in Berlin and New York.

Co-incidentally, this weeks title story of the popular German weekly "Der Stern" is about Foreign minister Joschka Fischer and his new love affair with the 28 year old cinematography student and single mother Minu Barati.

But what ever said and done, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, of the Green Party, is an exception to the rule in German politics - he is witty, has star quality, and he courts controversy.

At least for four to five years Fischer is the most popular politician in Germany. In all surveys he is at the top. If German Bundestag was to have a polit-pop star in their parliament, then it is no one else other than Joschka Fischer.

The writer is a resident in Germany for the past 30 years. He is Journalist and an executive producer at Radio Multikulti in Berlin which is an affiliated station of the ARD Broadcasting Network in Germany.

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