Editing Hans-Dietrich Genscher (section)

== Activities after politics ==
[[File:Genscher-19-09-2013.jpg|thumb|Genscher in 2013]]
Ahead of the [[1994 German presidential election|German presidential election]] in 1994, Genscher proclaimed his lack of interest in the position, but was nonetheless widely considered a leading contender. After a poll taken for ''[[Stern (magazine)|Stern]]'' magazine showed him to be the favored candidate of 48 percent of German voters, he reiterated in 1993 that he would "in no case" accept the presidency.<ref>Stephen Kinzer (27 March 1993), [https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/27/world/germany-considers-jew-as-president.html Germany Considers Jew as President] ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref>

Having finished his political career, Genscher remained active as a lawyer and in international organizations. In late 1992, Genscher was appointed chairman of a newly established donors' board of the [[Berlin State Opera]].<ref>[[John Rockwell]] (12 December 1992), [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/12/arts/new-start-for-an-old-opera-in-berlin.html New Start for an Old Opera in Berlin] ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref> Between 1997 and 2010, Genscher was affiliated with the law firm Büsing, Müffelmann & Theye.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kanzlei: Feine, juristische Lösungen. Seit 1961.|url=http://www.bmt.eu/pl/kanzlei/historie.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418090748/http://www.bmt.eu/pl/kanzlei/historie.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 April 2016|publisher=Büsing, Müffelmann & Theye|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de}}</ref> He founded his own consulting firm, Hans-Dietrich Genscher Consult GmbH, in 2000. Between 2001 and 2003, he served as president of the [[Deutsche Gesellschaft für auswärtige Politik|German Council on Foreign Relations]].<ref name="Lebendiges Museum Online">{{cite web|title=Hans-Dietrich Genscher 1927 – 2016|url=https://www.hdg.de/lemo/biografie/hans-dietrich-genscher.html|website=Lebendiges Museum Online|publisher=Haus der Deutschen Geschichte|access-date=1 April 2016|language=de}}</ref> In 2001, Genscher headed an arbitration that ended a monthlong battle between German airline [[Lufthansa]] and its pilots' union and resulted in an agreement on increasing wages by more than 15 percent by the end of the following year.<ref>Edmund L. Andrews (9 June 2001), [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/09/business/world-business-briefing-europe-germany-airline-agreement.html Germany: Airline Agreement] ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref>

In 2008, Genscher joined former [[List of Presidents of the Czech Republic|Czech President]] [[Václav Havel]], former [[United States Ambassador to Germany]] [[John Kornblum]] and several other well-known political figures in calling for a [[Cold War]] museum to be built at [[Checkpoint Charlie]] in Berlin.<ref>Mark Waffel (17 June 2008), [http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/safeguarding-the-past-in-berlin-political-heavyweights-call-for-cold-war-museum-a-560192.html Safeguarding the Past in Berlin: Political Heavyweights Call for Cold War Museum] ''[[Spiegel Online]]''.</ref> In 2009 Genscher expressed public concern at [[Pope Benedict XVI]]'s lifting of [[excommunication]] of the bishops of the [[Society of Saint Pius X]]. Genscher wrote in the ''[[Mitteldeutsche Zeitung]]'': "Poles can be proud of [[Pope John Paul II]]. At the last papal election, we said We are the pope! But please—not like this."<ref>[http://www.mz-web.de/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=ksta/page&atype=ksArtikel&aid=1229852995685&openMenu=1013016724415&calledPageId=1013016724415&listid=1018881578341 Wir Sind Papst – aber bitte nicht so!] ''Mitteldeutsche Zeitung'', 2 February 2009.</ref> He argued that [[Pope Benedict XVI]] was making a habit of offending non-Catholics. "This is a deep moral and political question. It is about respect for the victims of crimes against humanity", Genscher said.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1061193.html|title=German-born pope under fire in his homeland over tolerance of Holocaust denial|work=Haaretz|date=3 February 2009}}</ref>

On 20 December 2013, it was revealed that Genscher played a key role in coordinating the release and flight to Germany of [[Mikhail Khodorkovsky]], the former head of [[Yukos]]. Genscher had first met Khodorkovsky in 2002 and had chaired a conference at which Khodorkovsky blasted Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]]'s pursuit of his oil company.<ref name="Benoit-2013">{{Cite news|last1=Benoit|first1=Bertrand|last2=Troianovski|first2=Anton|author-link2=Anton Troianovski|last3=White|first3=Gregory L.|date=22 December 2013|title=Germany Led Talks to Free Russian Tycoon|language=en|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|location=Berlin|url=https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304475004579274440852427968.html|url-access=subscription|issn=0099-9660}}</ref> Khodorkovsky asked his lawyers during a 2011 prison visit to let Genscher help mediate early release. Once Putin was re-elected in 2012, German [[Chancellor of Germany|Chancellor]] [[Angela Merkel]] instructed her officials to lobby for the president to meet Genscher.<ref name="Benoit-2013"/><ref>Arkady Ostrovsky (23 December 2013), [https://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2013/12/mikhail-khodorkovsky-0 Mikhail Khodorkovsky: In from the cold] ''[[The Economist]]''.</ref> The subsequent negotiations involved two meetings between Genscher and Putin – one at [[Berlin Tegel Airport]] at the end of Putin's first visit to Germany after he was re-elected in 2012, the other in Moscow. While keeping the chancellor informed, Khodorkovsky's attorneys and Genscher spent the ensuing months developing a variety of legal avenues that could allow Putin to release his former rival early, ranging from amendments to existing laws to [[clemency]].<ref name="Benoit-2013"/> When Khodorkovsky's mother was in a Berlin hospital with cancer in November 2013, Genscher passed a message to Khodorkovsky suggesting the prisoner should write a pardon letter to Putin emphasizing his mother's ill health.<ref>Michelle Martin and Lidia Kelly (26 December 2013), [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-khodorkovsky-idUSBRE9BP0C420131226 Inside Germany's campaign to free Khodorkovsky] ''[[Reuters]]''.</ref> Following Putin's pardoning of Khodorkovsky "for humanitarian reasons" in December 2013, a private plane provided by Genscher brought Khodorkovsky to Berlin for a family reunion at the [[Hotel Adlon]].<ref>Alison Smale (23 December 2013), [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/24/world/europe/deep-ties-between-russia-and-germany-on-display-in-prisoners-release.html Deep Russia-Germany Ties Behind a Prisoner's Release] ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref>

Genscher signed on in 2014 to be a member of the [[Southern Gas Corridor|Southern Corridor]] Advisory Panel, a [[BP]]-led consortium which includes former British Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] and [[Peter Sutherland]], chairman of [[Goldman Sachs International]].<ref>Guy Chazan (17 July 2014), [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/28b699ae-0d9f-11e4-815f-00144feabdc0.html Tony Blair to advise on Azerbaijan gas project] ''[[Financial Times]]''.</ref> The panel's purpose is to facilitate the expansion of a vast natural-gas field in the [[Caspian Sea]] and the building of two pipelines across Europe. The $45 billion enterprise, championed by the Azerbaijani president, [[Ilham Aliyev]], has been called by critics "the Blair Rich Project".<ref>[[Sarah Ellison]] (January 2015), [https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/01/tony-blair-profile The Which Blair Project] ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]''.</ref>