Leo Tindemans next opted for a career in European politics, taking almost a million preference votes in the 1979 European elections. The former President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy - just like Tindemans a politician of the Flemish Christian democrat family - later called Tindemans "one of the founding fathers of the European Union".

Tindemans became the Belgian Foreign Minister in 1981, representing our country on the international scene, but returned to Europe in 1989 for another 10-year spell. He received the honorary title of Minister of State in 1992, and retired from politics in 1999.

A double pneumonia hit him a couple of years ago and his health deteriorated. His weak condition prevented him from attending the funeral of another great Christian democrat politician, Wilfried Martens, last year. CD&V has now lost a third important former statesman in a relatively short period, after Wilfried Martens and Jean-Luc Dehaene, both also former Prime Ministers.