03/08/2005 (Agence Europe) - Official reactions and tributes of sympathy celebrating the merits and personality of Wim Duisenberg have continued to flood in further to the death of the first ever president of the European Central Bank on Sunday (EUROPE 9002). The Luxembourg Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, who frequently rubbed shoulders with him in recent years at meetings of the finance ministers of the EU, said in a press release (our translation): "Wim Duisenberg was one of the central figures of recent European monetary history", and was one of the "most remarkable personalities" of Europe. The president of the European Parliament, Josep Borrell, also paid tribute to the memory of a "great European", whom he considered as "one of the fathers of the euro", and stressed his "immense charisma". In a press release, the president of the European employers' Federation (UNICE), Ernest-Antoine Seillière, spoke of the "decisive leadership" of Mr Duisenberg, and of "his efforts to implement a stable monetary policy and to guarantee the strength and independence of the ECB".