Janssen is a board member of the foundation that annually selects the laureate of the prize. In that role, he met the former leader of the Soviet Union a number of times. “Before he came to Kerkrade, I had already visited him twice in Moscow,” says Janssen. He has fond memories of the former General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, as his official title was. “We sat at the table as equals and ate and drank. Everything happened with an interpreter, of course, but he was a very good listener”.
