Following the2005 federal election, Steinmeier becameForeign Minister in the firstgrand coalition government ofAngela Merkel, and from 2007 he additionally held the office of vice chancellor. In 2008, he briefly served as acting chairman of his party. He was the SPD's candidate for Chancellor in the2009 federal election, but his party lost the election and he left the federal cabinet to become leader of the opposition. Following the2013 federal election, he again became Minister for Foreign Affairs in Merkel's second grand coalition. In November 2016 the governingCDU/CSU-SPD coalition, which held a large majority in theFederal Convention, nominated him as candidate forPresident of Germany. He left the cabinet on 27 January 2017.[3] He waselected president by the Federal Convention on 12 February 2017 with 74% of the vote. On 13 February 2022, he wasre-elected by the Federal Convention for a second and final term with 78% of the vote.[4]
Steinmeier is known as a reform-minded moderate within the SPD.[5] As chief of staff, he was a principal architect ofAgenda 2010, the Schröder government's reforms of the welfare state.[6] His lenient policies toward countries such as Russia and China have earned him criticism both in Germany and internationally, and he has been criticized for prioritizing German business interests over human rights.[7][8]
Following hisAbitur, Steinmeier did his military service from 1974 to 1976, then studied law and political science at theJustus Liebig University Giessen, whereBrigitte Zypries was a fellow student.[13] In 1982 he passed his first and in 1986 his second state examination in law. Steinmeier worked as a scientific assistant to the professor of public law and political science at Giessen University until he obtained his doctorate of law in 1991. His dissertation explored the state's role in preventing homelessness.[14]
Steinmeier is aReformedProtestant and an active member of the Reformed Bethlehem congregation inNeukölln.[18] He was baptized into his father's church (theChurch of Lippe) as a youth.
Steinmeier became an adviser in 1991 for Law of Communication media and media guidelines in the State Chancellery ofLower Saxony inHanover. In 1993, he became director of the Personal Office for the prime minister of Lower Saxony,Gerhard Schröder. In 1996, he became the Secretary of State and head of the State Chancellery of Lower Saxony.
In November 1998 Steinmeier was appointed as Secretary of State, a junior Chancellery bureaucrat, and Commissioner for the Federal Intelligence Services at the office of the chancellor followingSchröder's election victory. He replacedBodo Hombach as the head of theoffice of the chancellor in 1999, after the latter entered European Union politics.[19] He retained his Secretary of State rank and therefore was the only Head of the Chancellery to not be appointed Minister for Special Affairs, i. e. not to have cabinet rank, from 1984 to today. During this period Steinmeier was also one of the advisors to Schröder.[19] He was crucial in securing a red-green majority in parliament for Schröder's contentious "Agenda 2010" of economic reforms.[5] Because of his effective management beyond the spotlight of politics, he was nicknamedDie Graue Effizienz (lit.'the grey efficiency') – a pun onGraue Eminenz, the German forgrey eminence.
As Commissioner for the Federal Intelligence Services (a title often held by the Head of the Chancellery) Steinmeier was responsible for co-ordinating Germany's intelligence services.[20] In 2003, he supported Schröder in his controversial decision to forge a coalition with Russia and France against the U.S.-ledwar against Iraq.[21] Meanwhile, he approved the decision to install a German intelligence officer in the Qatar-based office of GeneralTommy Franks, the American commander of the U.S. invasion in Iraq, who passed on to the United States information being gathered in Baghdad by two German intelligence officers operating there.[22]
A major controversy during Steinmeier's term as chief of staff was the imprisonment of a German-born Turk,Murat Kurnaz, inGuantánamo Bay from 2002 until August 2006. Steinmeier denied during a parliamentary inquiry in March 2007 that he had blocked Kurnaz's release. Instead, he claimed that Berlin had feared Kurnaz was a threat and should go to Turkey, not Germany, if released. Only after Merkel's election was Kurnaz released and brought back to Germany.[24]
During his time in office, Steinmeier was widely regarded as having good working relations with Angela Merkel but often taking a different stance on foreign affairs.[5] By and large, he allowed Merkel to set the pace in foreign policy,[20] working harmoniously with her on a range of foreign policy issues, from confrontingIran over its nuclear program to negotiating binding goals tocombat climate change.[17] In one significant foreign policy disagreement, Steinmeier held in 2009 that Germany should by 2013 lay the groundwork for withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, a deployment that around two-thirds of Germans opposed by then.[26] Unlike Merkel, he also favored Turkish entry into theEuropean Union.[17]
Also, Steinmeier became known for his rather Russia-friendly stance, arguing strenuously for engagement with the increasingly assertive power to the east, rather than its isolation.[27] He formulated a policy toward Russia deliberately reminiscent of "Ostpolitik", the eastward-facing policy pioneered by ChancellorWilly Brandt in the early 1970s.[28] Together with Gernot Erler, the SPD's leading Russia expert and the deputy foreign minister, Steinmeier in 2008 initiated Germany's so-called Partnership for Modernization with Russia, which became an official EU policy in 2010.[29]
Pressed by lawmakers to say more on his attitude toward Russia in the wake of the high-profile murders of opposition figuresAnna Politkovskaya andAlexander Litvinenko at a January 2007 hearing at theEuropean Parliament, Steinmeier stated that "[t]here is a certain trend toward [media] hysterics and one needs to get a sense of reason back into the debate".[30]
Dr Frank Umbach had warned as early as February 2006 that Germany had become too dependent on Russia but Steinmeier, citing the newOstpolitik, disregarded him.[31][32] In March 2007 Steinmeier published a long article in reply to Umbach explaining his rationale on the EU being such an exceptional role model on international cooperation that PutiniteRussia would unavoidably get "like us" by mere "intertwining of interests" (Verflechtung), and also that "a pan-European peace order and a lasting solution to important security problems (...) can only be achieved with Russia, not without it or even against it".[33] Steinmeier helped to admit Putin's Russia into theWTO,[33] which occurred in 2011.[34]
On 18 December 2007, Steinmeier andDmitry Medvedev signed an agreement on behalf ofBASF to exploit another gas field. At the time, 40 per cent of German demand was satisfied by Russian supply.[31]
Steinmeier went with Merkel to the21st NATO Summit in Bucharest, and they formed a common front with French presidentNicolas Sarkozy to block the proposal backed by U.S. presidentGeorge W. Bush and Eastern European leaders of accession ofGeorgia andUkraine to membership in the organization, with the intent of keeping good relations with the Kremlin.[35]
In 2006,Foreign Affairs published an analysis of the state of US and Russian nuclear forces, concluding that post-Cold War US nuclear forces seemed designed to carry out a preemptive strike against Russia or China and that the planned missile defense would be valuable primarily in an offensive context as an adjunct to a USfirst-strike capability.[37] The article elicited a semi-official Russian response from ex-PMYegor Gaidar in theFinancial Times a few days later.[38] In 2007, the US government was reportedly deeply irritated, although publicly silent, about Steinmeier, who had sounded supportive of Russian accusations that a plannedUS missile defense complex in Poland would upset the strategic balance in Europe – and who then left without challenge Russian General Nikolai Solovtsov's threat of retaliation against Poland and the Czech Republic if they deployed U.S. defensive systems.[39]
Russian opposition activists later celebrated when Steinmeier and the SDP lost the 2009 election, signaling their discontent with Steinmeier.Oleg Petrovich Orlov, head of theMemorial human rights group, said that Steinmeier had prolonged Schröder's policies on Russia and that Germany's policies were "extremely bad for civil society, democracy and the country as a whole".[40]
In February 2009, Steinmeier became the first member of Merkel's cabinet to be received by the incomingObama administration.[41]
During his time in office, Steinmeier managed to extract German hostages from Iraq[42][43] and Yemen.[20] In 2007, he also succeeded in securing the release of a German citizen who was imprisoned in Iran for illegally entering the country's waters on a fishing expedition.[44]
Steinmeier served as acting chairman of the SPD from 7 September 2008 to 18 October 2008. Domestically, throughout his term he was the only major politician with approval ratings consistently as high as or higher than Merkel's. This was helped by the especially high ratings foreign ministers generally receive in Germany.[27]
On 7 September 2008, following the resignation of SPD chairmanKurt Beck, Steinmeier was chosen as the SPD candidate for chancellor for the2009 federal elections and also designated as acting SPD Chairman, pending the return of Müntefering to that position.[45] In his election campaign, he argued for new tax rules to deter high executive pay and bonuses, and for minimum wages to slow the growing gap between Germany's highest and lowest earners.[26] He also focused on improving public healthcare.[46]
Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier addressing a dinner of theWorld Jewish Congress in Berlin, September 2014
After the SPD's decisive defeat in the elections – the party's worst performance sinceWorld War II[47][48] by then – Steinmeier, who had been elected to representBrandenburg an der Havel – Potsdam-Mittelmark I – Havelland III – Teltow-Fläming I, was electedPeter Struck's successor as chairman of the SPD's parliamentary group in theBundestag, and as such leader of the opposition.[49] After a hospitalization for donating a kidney to his wife in August 2010, Steinmeier returned to his office in October 2010.
During his time as leader of the parliamentary opposition, Steinmeier regularly accused Angela Merkel's government of increasing the national debt and pandering to the rich.[50] In 2011, Steinmeier argued that Merkel's decision to appoint her economics adviser,Jens Weidmann, to be the next head of theBundesbank undermined the political independence and public trust in the German central bank.[51]
In late 2012, Steinmeier was once again considered a possible candidate to challenge Chancellor Angela Merkel in the 2013 general election, but soon withdrew from the contest. As a consequence, SPD leadership nominatedPeer Steinbrück.[52]
Steinmeier with U.S. Secretary of StateJohn Kerry in March 2015
After theelections of 2013 and the new grand coalition government, Steinmeier was appointed foreign minister for a second time in December 2013. He replacedGuido Westerwelle, who had signed theP5+1 accord with Iran in November 2013. His deputies wereMichael Roth (SPD) andMaria Böhmer (CDU). Upon taking office, Steinmeier initiated an ambitious review of Germany's foreign policy, holding meetings nationwide and drawing in more than 12,000 people who worked at the ministry or abroad.[53]
Steinmeier with Iranian Foreign MinisterMohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran, February 2016
Over the course of 2014, Steinmeier alternated with Merkel as Germany's most popular politician in polls of eligible voters.[54]
In light of criticism from the United States, Steinmeier stood firm on Germany's approach in theRusso-Ukrainian War, where it was balancing support for European economic sanctions on Russia with leaving the door open to a revived partnership.[55] In May 2014, he proposed a greater mediation role for theOSCE, including the convening of local "round table" talks in Ukraine to defuse conflicts.[56] TheSteinmeier formula, as it is known to readers of Russian media, is synonymous with theMinsk II agreement.[57] Between 2015 and 2016, Steinmeier hosted a series ofNormandy format meetings in Berlin to negotiate a solution of thesituation in the East of Ukraine.[58]
During theMinsk II talks on a ceasefire for eastern Ukraine in early 2015, he successfully negotiated with Russian PresidentVladimir Putin on allowing German doctors to visit Ukrainian military pilotNadiya Savchenko, who had been on hunger strike for more than two months in a Russian jail.[59] Steinmeier has repeatedly ruled out arms shipments to resolve the conflict,[60] and that was German policy until two days after the 24 February2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, at which time ChancellorOlaf Scholz ended it.[citation needed]
In 2015, Steinmeier hosted a meeting of the delegations from Libya's two rival governments, who were battling for control of the country, and United Nations Special RepresentativeBernardino León to discuss a UN-sponsored peace and power-sharing proposal despite splits among some of the parties.[61]
Steinmeier later was instrumental in convening the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) and theSyria peace talks in Vienna in October 2015, drawing togetherSaudi Arabia; its main regional rival,Iran; as well as Russia, the United States and other Western powers and regional actors includingTurkey andIraq.[62]
In the past,Human Rights Watch has labeled Steinmeier as "Realpolitik advocate", for whom, "when it comes to defining his relationship with countries" such as Russia, China,Iran andSaudi Arabia, "human rights play only a subordinate role".[63][64]
In Steinmeier's opinion, the "[r]ejection of capital punishment is one of the keystones of German human-rights policy. The death penalty goes against our fundamental ethic and moral principles".[65] He personally called for the abolition of thedeath penalty in Uzbekistan; capital punishment in Uzbekistan has been abolished since 2008.[66] In April 2014, he summoned the Egyptian ambassador Mohamed Higazy after aCairo court sentenced 683 individuals to death for inciting violence during protests in summer 2013, following the military overthrow of elected PresidentMohammed Morsi.[67] Following the2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, he warned that any move by Turkey to reinstate the death penalty would derail its efforts to join the European Union.[68] He criticized the2016–present purges in Turkey.[69]
After Germany had only narrowly managed to avoid a deficit warning from theEuropean Commission in 2002, Schröder and Steinmeier became the driving forces behind weakening theStability and Growth Pact, a rule-based framework for the coordination of national fiscal policies originally intended as the guarantor of a stable euro.[71]
In a joint article in theFinancial Times on 14 December 2010, Steinmeier andPeer Steinbrück proposed to solve theEuropean debt crisis with "a combination of a haircut for debt holders, debt guarantees for stable countries and the limited introduction of European-wide bonds in the medium term, accompanied by more aligned fiscal policies".[72] In February 2011, Steinmeier proposed Steinbrück as a candidate to lead the European Central Bank.[73]
Under Steinmeier's parliamentary leadership, the Social Democrats raised pressure on ChancellorAngela Merkel to agree to more burden-sharing to stem theeuro zone crisis, repeatedly calling on her to assume greater risks to avert a breakup of the single currency.[74] In both February and November 2012, his parliamentary group voted largely in favour of the Merkel government's proposal foreurozone bailout packages for Greece,[75][76][77] while criticizing the measures as being "not an enduring solution for the Greeks".[78] In July 2014, he helped build the opposition's support for a euro zone rescue package for Spanish banks.[79] Later, as foreign minister, he publicly advised against "frivolous" talk of aGreek withdrawal from the eurozone, calling for a serious search for a solution.[80]
Reacting to a growth of euro-skeptic political parties across Europe by early 2014, Steinmeier offered the United Kingdom limited support on renegotiating theTreaties of the European Union, saying Germany wanted to see Britain's influence in the "midst" of the EU, not on "the sidelines".[81] After Britain's vote to leave the EU in 2016, he argued that the union lacked the cohesion to undertake major new integration steps and should instead focus on migration, high youth unemployment and security.[82]
At the same time, Steinmeier worked to develop new formats and revive new ones. In December 2014, he met with the foreign ministers from the threeNordic countriesDenmark,Finland and Sweden –Margot Wallström,Erkki Tuomioja andMartin Lidegaard – for the so-called "N3 + 1" format to discuss issues of common concern for the first time.[83]
In August 2016, he joined French foreign ministerJean-Marc Ayrault in pledging to "reinvigorate" theWeimar Triangle and published a document 'A strong Europe in a world of uncertainties'.[84]
Also in late 2014, Steinmeier and his British counterpartPhilip Hammond united in a bid to end a deadlock in relations betweenBosnia and the European Union, arguing that the EU should abandon its insistence on changes to Bosnia's electoral code as a precondition for aStabilization and Association Agreement on the path to EU membership.[87]
In 2007, Steinmeier said he opposes European Commission proposals on unbundling the ownership of energy networks in the European Union, as it was proposed in theThird Energy Package.[88]
In May 2007, the dailyFinancial Times Deutschland reported that Steinmeier had served as mediator in the so-calledBronze Night controversy, an Estonia-Russia dispute over the removal of aRed Army memorial in Tallinn. According to the report, Steinmeier suggested the Estonian ambassador to Russia,Marina Kaljurand, go on vacation in an effort to calm the situation. Steinmeier called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to suggest not only that Kaljurand take a holiday, but also that Russia drop the dispute for the time being. After speaking with Lavrov, Steinmeier reportedly called Estonian Foreign MinisterUrmas Paet and got him to agree to the deal. Kaljurand left Moscow for a two-week vacation and pro-Kremlin youth activists blockading the Estonian embassy in Moscow ended their protests the same day.[94] Upon returning to government in late 2013, Steinmeier criticized Russia in his inaugural speech for exploiting Ukraine's economic plight to prevent it from signing theUkraine–European Union Association Agreement.[95] In March 2014, he defended Russia's membership of theG8, saying "The format of the G8 is actually the only one in which we in the West can speak directly with Russia."[96] When Germany held the chairmanship of the group in 2015, he maintained that excluding Russia over its actions in Ukraine was a necessary step but not a goal in itself; citing the Middle East, he argued that "a look at the world shows that we need Russia as a constructive partner in a number of conflicts".[97] In April 2014 Steinmeier argued that a policy of de-escalation towards Russia was necessary, instead of the sanctions which were applied in the wake of the2014 annexation of Crimea.[98] In a 2015 letter toCecilia Malmström, the EU's trade chief, Steinmeier proposed a joint declaration between the EU and Russia offering Moscow the prospect of long-sought investment and energy concessions to create a more integrated economic area from the Atlantic to the Pacific. According to the letter, "by the content of this declaration we could respond to Russia's wishes and begin a closer exchange of views on energy and investment protection issues, even if theUkraine–European Union Association Agreement does not directly touch on them".[99]
In June 2016, Steinmeier criticisedNATO 'warmongering' on Russia: "The one thing we shouldn't do now is inflame the situation with loud sabre-rattling and warmongering."[100] The CDU politiciansVolker Bouffier andHerbert Reul criticised him for his stance on Russia,[8] while his comments were welcomed by the Russian media.[101]
In their bookDie Moskau-Connection, journalists Bingener and Wehner describe the network around Schröder and his support for Putin's policies. Steinmeier was part of that network. Bingener and Wehner write that Steinmeier considered Putin to be rational and accessible. Steinmeier also did not draw any conclusions from theannexation of Crimea in February 2014.[102] Steinmeier did not resolutely oppose Putin's logic, in which there is only winning and losing. Bingener and Wehner:[103]
This is another reason why he is well-liked in Moscow. He is a rather timid person. While his predecessorJoschka Fischer got along with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov easily and often interrupted [...him], Steinmeier has a hard time speaking to Lavrov. 'Dear Sergei', as Steinmeier sometimes calls him, is often harsh and hurtful to his interlocutors. He doesn't need to be that with the German Foreign Minister.
Steinmeier voiced his support forBarack Obama when Obama was still a presidential candidate, and supported Obama's wish to deliver a speech before the iconicBrandenburg Gate during the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign.[104]
In 2016 Steinmeier described then-U.S. presidential candidateDonald Trump as a "hate preacher".[105][106][107] After Trump's election, Steinmeier refused to congratulate him, and condemnedTrump's views.[108][109] He has been described as "the German government's most strident detractor" of Trump.[110]
During a 2006 meeting with Turkmen PresidentSaparmurat Niyazov, Steinmeier criticizedTurkmenistan for its slow progress in implementing therule of law and human rights and said that the state's progress in carrying out political reforms had been "too halting".[111]
When Germany chaired a United Nations group aimed at resolving2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Steinmeier presented to the three conflict parties – Georgia,Abkhazia and Russia – a plan which included a three-stage peace proposal, entailing an end to violence, confidence-building measures over the following year that could lead to the resumption of direct talks between Georgia and Abkhazia, and the return of about 250,000 Georgian refugees to Abkhazia. However, both Georgia and Abkhazia rejected the proposal.[112] In September 2008, Steinmeier called for an international probe into the conflict over Georgia's breakaway provinces.[113] During a 2014 visit to the country, he reiterated that membership ofNATO and of the EU would remain off the cards for a long while to come.[114]
In August 2006, Steinmeier made his first visit toAfghanistan, where Germany had taken over the command of the 21,000-strong NATO-ledInternational Security Assistance Force (ISAF) shortly before.[115] Ahead of the2009 federal elections, Steinmeier – then still in his capacity as foreign minister – commissioned an internal report on Germany's engagement in Afghanistan which recommended that Germany should start pulling out of the country within four years; at the time, this was seen as a stark departure from Steinmeier's earlier insistence Germany should not set a date for withdrawing its then 4,200-strong contingent from the north of Afghanistan as the move could play into the hands of Taliban insurgents.[116]
Steinmeier and Israels PresidentIsaac Herzog in Jerusalem, November 2023President of IsraelIsaac Herzog and President Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier visit KibbutzBe'eri, where Steinmeier pledged 7 million euros for the reconstruction of Kibbutz Be'eri's gallery that was burned byHamas, 27 November 2023
In theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict, Steinmeier supports atwo-state solution and calls for an end to the Israeli occupation of thePalestinian territories. He welcomed theUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 and said theIsraeli settlements on occupied territory form an obstacle to peace and a two-state solution.[119] He further said that "a democratic Israel is achievable only through a two-state-solution".[120] Steinmeier praisedthe speech by US Secretary of StateJohn Kerry which outlined the United States' position on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in December 2016; in the speech Kerry said a peace agreement must be based on the 1967 lines, that all citizens must enjoy equal rights, that occupation must end, that the Palestinian refugee issue must be resolved, and that Jerusalem must be the capital of both states, and criticised the Netanyahu government's agenda as driven by "extreme elements".[121]
Steinmeier voiced support for Israel during theGaza war.[122][123] He called onArabs living in Germany to distance themselves fromHamas.[124]
Steinmeier among diplomats from the P5+1 countries, theEuropean Union and Iran after agreeing on theIran nuclear deal, Lausanne, Switzerland on 2 April 2015[125]
Steinmeier visited Iran in October 2015 – it was the first extended visit by aGerman foreign minister to Iran in 12 years. After meeting his Iranian colleague counterpartMohammed Javad Zarif, Steinmeier said that while Berlin and Tehran did not have congruent views on the Syrian conflict, they had "a common interest in ensuring an end to the killings." Iran, along with Russia, was a key backer of the Syrian government. The conflict had killed more than 250,000 people at the time, according to UN estimates. Pointing to the conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, Steinmeier underlined: "The region needs more diplomacy, not less."
Steinmeier has visited theZaatari refugee camp in Jordan twice to learn more about the plight ofSyrians fleeing the violence in the ongoingSyrian civil war that erupted in 2011,[127] first in his capacity as chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in May 2013 and later as foreign minister in May 2015.[128] In early 2014, upon taking office as foreign minister, he agreed with ChancellorAngela Merkel and Defence MinisterUrsula von der Leyen that Germany would help destroy Syria's arsenal of chemical weapons materials as part of an international disarmament program.[129] In October 2014, he co-chaired the Berlin Conference on the Syrian Refugee Situation along with Development MinisterGerd Müller and theUN High Commissioner for Refugees,António Guterres.[130]
In March 2015, Steinmeier said he "can understand"Saudi Arabia's decision to mount amilitary intervention in Yemen and acknowledged the operation had "support from the region". However, he said the crisis could not be solved by violence and urged a negotiated solution.[131]
In February 2025, Steinmeier arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he was welcomed by Saudi Crown PrinceMohammed bin Salman. He called Saudi Arabia "a key player" in the region. During the four-day trip, he also visited Turkey and met with Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan.[132]
In 2015 Steinmeier rejected claims forwar reparations from the GreekSyriza party in response to Germany's position on theGreek government-debt crisis. When incoming Greek Prime MinisterAlexis Tsipras, in his first major speech to parliament in early 2015, pledged to seek war reparations from Germany, Steinmeier replied to Greek Foreign MinisterNikos Kotzias that Germany was fully aware of its political and moral responsibility for the "terrible events" in Greece between 1941 and 1944 when German troops occupied the country. "Still, we are firmly convinced that all reparations issues, including forced loans, are judicially settled once-and-for-all," Steinmeier said.[133]
At the state memorial service for deceased Namibian presidentHage Geingob inWindhoek on 24 February 2024, Steinmeier said that it was "high time" for Germany to "tender an apology to Namibia" for theHerero and Nama genocide from 1904 to 1908.[134]
Steinmeier openly attacked Merkel over her 2007 meeting with theDalai Lama, accusing the chancellor of "playing to public opinion" without regard for the effectiveness of the meeting in improving political or religious rights on the ground in China.[135] In 2008, he refused to meet the Dalai Lama during his five-day visit, arguing that such a meeting could undermine international efforts to promote sustained contact between China andTibet.[136] Instead, Steinmeier issued the statement "it takes a lot of courage not to meet with the Dalai Lama these days",[137] whichThe New York Times described as "extraordinarily cynical" and accused Steinmeier of prioritizing business interests over human rights.[7][138]
In the case ofMurat Kurnaz, innocently imprisoned in 2002 and tortured by the US, Steinmeier allegedly had an offer by theUnited States Department of Defense and theCIA already in September 2002 regarding a transfer of Murat Kurnaz to Germany, where he was born and raised. Kurnaz had been first sold as a terror suspect in Pakistan, then imprisoned in Afghanistan and later inGuantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, until 2006. By refusing the offer Steinmeier is thought to have been politically directly responsible for his continued imprisonment.[139][140][141]
During a 2015 debate about Germany'srecognition of the Armenian genocide on the occasion of itscentenary, Steinmeier was the politician most reluctant to endorse it, mainly because of Germany's relations withTurkey.[143] He was widely criticized for his position and accused ofArmenian genocide denial.[144][145] When the German Bundestag almost unanimously approved a resolution in 2016 that recognises the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman forces as agenocide, a description that Turkey strongly rejects, Steinmeier abstained from the vote and criticized the resolution in public; Steinmeier was one of only two of the 630 members of parliament who did not support the resolution.[146] And Steinmeier alleged that calling Armenian massacres genocide risks belittling the Holocaust.[147]
Following the2013 elections, Steinmeier became the first prominent member of the Social Democrats to be confronted with allegations that heplagiarized parts of his 1991 doctoral dissertation about the role of the state in the prevention of homelessness.[14] Similar accusations had previously led to the resignation of two ministers of the Merkel government.[14] In response, Steinmeier rejected the charges and said that he had asked theUniversity of Giessen to check his dissertation for unacknowledged citations.[14] In May 2013, a university committee for safeguarding academic practices found that Steinmeier had no fraudulent intent and had not committed academic misconduct in his dissertation.[148] The committee did find "technical weaknesses" in Steinmeier's citations, but said they were not severe enough to consider revoking his degree.[148]
In June 2016 PresidentJoachim Gauck decided not to run for re-election, resulting in a search for a candidate to succeed him.[149] In November 2016, Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives agreed with the Social Democrats to support Steinmeier's candidacy for president in thepresidential election, scheduled for 12 February 2017.[150]
Merkel had originally wanted to nominate Green politicianMarianne Birthler, and as the CDU/CSU and the Greens control a majority in the Federal Convention, Birthler's election would have been secured. However, Birthler after some time decided not to run.[151]
On 12 February 2017 Germany's 16thFederal Convention elected Steinmeier President on the first ballot, with 931 votes out of a total of 1,260.
Steinmeier took office as President of Germany on 19 March 2017, after the expiration of his predecessor's term in office, and on 22 March 2017 he took the oath that newly invested presidents must take before a joint session of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, according to the Basic Law.
In the following weeks, Steinmeier played an important role in the formation of the next government. This is because if the Bundestag fails to elect a chancellor in 14 days of voting,[154] the president can either appoint the individual with most votes to lead a minority government or dissolve the Bundestag and call new elections. This type of political crisis had never been seen in Germany before and pushed the president into a quite powerful position which is rare for Germany. Steinmeier declared he would not consider a dissolution of the Bundestag as a preferable solution, and managed to persuade Schulz to meet with Angela Merkel and start preliminary talks. After long coalition talks, CDU, CSU and SPD formed a new grand coalition. Merkel was re-elected in the Bundestag on 14 March 2018.[citation needed]
Shortly after the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Steinmeier expressed regret for his earlier stance on Russia, saying his years of support for theNord Stream 2 gas pipeline had been a clear mistake.[158] In April 2022 he called for awar crimes tribunal against Russian PresidentVladimir Putin and Russian Foreign MinisterSergei Lavrov.[159] Steinmeier said that he "wrongly believed that Vladimir Putin would not precipitate a complete economic, political, and moral devastation of his country because of his imperial mania."[160]
In April 2022, Steinmeier abandoned plans to visit Kyiv after admitting he would not be welcome in Ukraine in what was seen as a serious snub for one of Germany's most senior politicians. At the time, German news media cited Ukrainian officials as saying that the Ukrainian presidentVolodymyr Zelensky would refuse to meet Steinmeier if he came to Kyiv.[161][citation needed] Ukraine had previously criticized Steinmeier for his connections to Russia and his role in strengthening German-Russian relations under theChange through Trade (Wandel durch Handel) policy.[162]
On 25 October 2022, Steinmeier made an official visit to Ukraine, after a scheduled visit on 20 October was cancelled for security reasons due toa wave of cruise missile and drone attacks across Ukraine.[163][164][165] At the time,DW News was talking about a new €350-billionMarshall Plan to aid Ukraine even while Russian bombs were still falling from Kyiv skies.[164] Upon his return to Berlin he spoke at length of his Ukrainian experiences on 28 October, and opened with vivid descriptions of the horrors of war, noting that it had caused "the deepest crisis" that a reunified Germany has seen. He warned that "tougher, rough years are ahead of us."[166]
On 29 November 2022 Steinmeier was interviewed again on this subject by a journalist fromDeutsche Welle at hisofficial residence.[167] While opining that it is too early to talk about security guarantees for Ukraine, he condemned Russia's recent attacks on civilians and on gas and electricity supplies in Ukraine, saying,[167]
A cease-fire now would mean Russia would keep the territories it has occupied. It is also reckless to suggest a cease-fire now, because to establish a cease-fire at this point in time would essentially condone all of the injustice that has already taken place.
On behalf of the FRG on the anniversary date 1 August 2024 Steinmeier expressed contrition to the survivors of the WW2Warsaw Uprising. He said plans were afoot for a monument in Berlin dedicated to thePolish victims ofNazi Germany.[168]
^abcdEddy, Melissa (30 September 2013)."German Politician Faces Plagiarism Accusations".New York Times.Archived from the original on 21 July 2023. Retrieved8 March 2024.A German university is looking into allegations that Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a leading Social Democrat and a former foreign minister, plagiarized parts of his doctoral dissertation. [...] He has dismissed the charges and said Monday that he had requested that the University of Giessen check his dissertation for unacknowledged citations.
^Reinhard Bingener, Markus Wehner:Die Moskau Connection. Das Schröder-Netzwerk und Deutschlands Weg in die Abhängigkeit. C.H. Beck, München 2023, p. 177-179.
^Reinhard Bingener, Markus Wehner:Die Moskau Connection. Das Schröder-Netzwerk und Deutschlands Weg in die Abhängigkeit. C.H. Beck, München 2023, p. 118.
^Frank-Walter Steinmeier donated one of his kidneys to his end-stage kidney disease-stricken wife in August 2010. From 23 August to 26 October 2010, where he recovered from the procedure, senior SPD Bundestag member Joachim Poß served as interim Bundestag leader in his absence.
^Frank-Walter Steinmeier donated one of his kidneys to his end-stage kidney disease-stricken wife in August 2010. From 23 August to 26 October 2010, where he recovered from the procedure, senior SPD Bundestag member Joachim Poß served as interim Bundestag leader in his absence.
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