“The sudden and tragic passing of Richard Holbrooke is a great loss. His death has taken from us a consistently far-sighted thinker and a true friend of Germany. We share in the grief now felt by his family and friends. Richard Holbrooke played a crucial role in shaping international policy, helping, for example, to bring about the Dayton Agreement for peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I valued his contribution to formulating the new international strategy on Afghanistan extremely highly.”