Mario Frick (politician)

Mario Frick
Frick in 1997
Prime Minister of Liechtenstein
In office 15 December 1993 – 5 April 2001
Monarch	Hans-Adam II
Deputy	Thomas Büchel Michael Ritter
Preceded by	Markus Büchel
Succeeded by	Otmar Hasler
Deputy Prime Minister of Liechtenstein
In office 26 May 1993 – 15 December 1993
Monarch	Hans-Adam II
Prime Minister	Markus Büchel
Preceded by	Herbert Wille
Succeeded by	Thomas Büchel
Personal details
Born	(1965-05-08) 8 May 1965 (age 59) Chur, Switzerland
Political party	Patriotic Union
Spouse	Andrea Haberlander ​ (m. 1992)​
Children	3

Mario K. Frick (born 8 May 1965) is a lawyer and politician from Liechtenstein who served as Prime Minister of Liechtenstein from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Liechtenstein in 1993, under the government of Markus Büchel.

Early life

Frick was born on 8 May 1965 in Chur to trustee Kuno Frick and Melita Kaufmann as one of six children. From 1977 to 1985 he attended high school in Vaduz and proceeded to study law in University of St. Gallen, where he received a diploma in 1991.[1]

Prime Minister of Liechtenstein

Frick was the Deputy Prime Minister of Liechtenstein from May 1993 under Markus Büchel until he resigned in October under pressure from the Progressive Citizens' Party after the Landtag of Liechtenstein withdrew its confidence in him, and Frick became Prime Minister of Liechtenstein.[2][3] Hans-Adam II subsequently called the October 1993 Liechtenstein general election which resulted in a win for the Patriotic Union.[4] He became Europe's youngest head of government at the time at 28 years old.[1]

During his tenure as prime minister, Liechtenstein entered the European Economic Area after a successful referendum in 1995, and also joined the World Trade Organization the same year.[5][6] However, it also faced problems in its foreign relations, such as a dispute with the Czech Republic begun in 1992 over the confiscation of Princely properties estates in 1945, and a 2001 dispute with Germany in the International Court of Justice over royal property confiscated in order to pay war debts.

In 1997, the Progressive Citizens' Party withdrew from the coalition government that had existed since 1938, making his second cabinet the first non-coalition cabinet since then.[1][7]

Frick's government was faced with the challenge of the 1999–2001 Liechtenstein financial crisis, where the German Federal Intelligence Service accused various banks, politicians and judges within Liechtenstein of cooperating with organized crime to promote money laundering. This led to Liechtenstein being blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force in 2000. As a result, his government oversaw reforms to the Liechtenstein financial sector to combat organized crime and money laundering.[8]

Later life

After the end of his term as prime minister, Frick was notably prominent in the political controversy surrounding the 2003 Liechtenstein constitutional referendum, whereby it was proposed that the ruling prince be given wider powers; a number of other measures were also proposed. Frick led the opposition to the proposed changes which, however, were subsequently approved by the electorate.[1][9]

Frick (right) with Daniel Risch in 2024

Since 2002, Frick is a co-owner of the law firm Advocatur Seeger, Frick & Partner based in Schaan.[10] He was chairman of the board of directors of media company Vaduzer Medienhaus AG from 2003 to 2009.[1]

Personal life

Frick married Andrea Haberlander (born 11 February 1965) on 16 September 1992 and they have three children together. He lives in Balzers.[1]

Frick's brother Jürgen was shot and killed in the underground garage of Frick & Co. Bank in the town of Balzers on 7 April 2014.[11] The shooter, Jürgen Hermann, later shot and killed himself, and his body was found in Lake Constance on the German side of the lake. Hermann tried to sue Frick in 2010 but the suit was thrown out by the courts.[12]

See also

• Politics of Liechtenstein
• Mario Frick cabinet

External links

• Seeger, Frick & Partner—attorneys at law

References

1. "Frick, Mario". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). 31 December 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
2. "Altregierungschef Markus Büchel gestorben". Liechtensteiner Vaterland (in German). 9 July 2013.
3. "Mitglieder der Regierung des Fürstentums Liechtenstein 1862–2021". www.regierung.li. Archived from the original on 2023-07-28. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
4. Dataset: Liechtenstein: Parliamentary Election 1993 - October Archived 2013-10-17 at the Wayback Machine European Election Database
5. Dataset: Liechtenstein: Referendum on the European Economic Area membership 1995 Archived 2019-01-26 at the Wayback Machine European Election Database
6. "AGREEMENT ON THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA". European Free Trade Association. 19 August 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
7. Marxer, Wilfred (31 December 2011). "Fortschrittliche Bürgerpartei (FBP)". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 4 December 2024.
8. Lussy, Hanspeter (31 December 2011). "Finanzplatzkrise". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 25 December 2024.
9. "Referendum Results". IFES Election Guide. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
10. "Team". www.sfplex.li. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
11. "Liechtenstein bank chief shot dead". BBC News. 7 April 2014. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
12. "Police identify body of banker killing suspect". The Local. 18 August 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-08-19.