The eldest son of the Austrian emperor, who compared Putin with Hitler, died

In Germany, on July 4, 98-year-old Kronprints Otto von Habsburg, the eldest son of the last Emperor Austria-Hungary, Karl I, died in his own house, Reuters reports with reference to his family representatives.

The Archduke quietly rested at the villa located in Pekking on Lake Starnberg, where the Habsburg family lives in 1954, said the grandson of Habsburg-Lorengen. The coffin with the body of the Cronprint will remain for three days in the Church of Peking. Panichids will take place in Munich, Vienna, Budapest and in other cities.

The former Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel called Otto von Habsburg "a great Austrian patriot with Pan -European thinking." “Austria has lost a great statesman,” emphasized the extreme right -wing politician Hinz -Christian Straha.

Otto von Gabsburg was born on November 20, 1912 in the city of Raichenau in Austria-Hungary. In 1916, his father Charles I became the monarch of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which two years later ceased to exist. The property of the Habsburgs was confiscated, and soon the family escaped to Switzerland.

The imperial family, before stopping in Bavarian Pecking, managed to live in Portugal, Spain, Belgium, France and the United States. The enemy of the Nazis, Otto von Habsburg, in 1938 violently criticized Germany’s policy.

Otto officially refused claims to the throne in 1961, but he was allowed to return to Austria only in 1966. He was a member of the European Parliament from Germany, gave lectures around the world about international relations.

Von Habsburg did not let Russia into the EU and wanted to return to Georgia Abkhazia and South Ossetia

In 2005, von Gabsburg at the American University of John Hopkins in his report on the topic "New Europe" said that the mentality of the "police state" prevails in Russia, since political and economic power is concentrated in the hands of Vladimir Putin and his supporters from security services. Therefore, Russia in no case should be admitted to the European Union. At least until she gives freedom to all her "colonies".

In conclusion of the report, Gabsburg mentioned Putin on a par with Hitler: "Putin very openly declares his intentions. Hitler acted exactly the same." “Such people do not throw words into the wind,” Gabsburg summed up then.

In September 2010, Otto von Habsburg signed an open letter to the EU with a call to restore the territorial integrity of Georgia and the return to its composition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Otto von Gabsburg for more than 80 years headed the Habsburg House. He was a formal contender for the thrones of several non -existent kingdoms - Hungarian, Bohemian, Illyrian and Jerusalem, which has not existed since 1291 - since the exile of the crusaders from Acra.

Crown Prince moved away from public life after the death of his wife, Princess Regina von Saxen-Miningen, who died last year. The married couple left seven children.

According to RIA Novosti , the next head of the Habsburg House should be the eldest son of Otto von Habsburg Karl Habsburg-Loeringen.