We Can’t let this disease of war spread 

 

That’s what Christian Kattner was thinking when he worked in helping ease tensions during the breakdown of Yugoslavia. In this episode of “Learn from Leaders” I sit down with Christian Kattner, General Secretary of IDU, he has spent most of his career helping and pushing European international relations to create a better world and promote democratic nations. From a young age Christian was influenced by politics and diplomacy, being born in a small town in Bavaria not too far from the German wall. Fortunate to live on the right side of that wall he and his family were able to travel a lot during his youth and he recalls those experiences as what motivated him to get involved in international relations. Moving forward in his career he studied and interned in places as the GIISA, the Bertelsmann Foundation and later on the IDU. He was an ever-present character during some of the most turbulent times in modern European history, such as the breakdown of Yugoslavia. With his efforts you can now see nations such as Croatia and Serbia talk amicably in groups as IDU, with great differences and hostilities, but all in the common goal of democracy. When looking at the work he does today to push for democracy in more nations you see the relentless and never-ending fight that he is faced and to this challenge he says: 

 

“Never Give Up”