Natalie Pawlik (* 26 August 1992 in Vostok,Abatsky District,Tyumen Oblast,Russia) is a German politician (SPD). She has been amember of the German Bundestag since 2021 and, since 2025, has served as the Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees, and Integration as well asMinister of State at theFederal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Prior to that, from 2022 to 2025, she was the Federal Government Commissioner for Matters Related to Ethnic German Resettlers and National Minorities.[1]
Pawlik came to Germany with her family when she was six years old. After a short time in the initial reception camp inFriedland, they moved toBad Nauheim in theWetteraukreis ofHesse, where she grew up. Her schooldays began at the Wilhelmskirche elementary school. After graduating from secondary school, she obtained her vocational diploma in design at the Johann-Philipp-Reis Schule inFriedberg. This was followed by a bachelor's degree in history and cultural studies and a master's degree in society and cultures of modernity at theJustus Liebig University inGiessen.[2]
Alongside her studies, Pawlik began working in the parliamentary office ofMember of the European ParliamentUdo Bullmann. Since 2020, she has headed Bullmann's constituency office inFrankfurt amMain. She likes to emphasize that manysocial democratic reforms, such as the opening of education systems,BAföG and the abolition of tuition fees in Hesse, made her life's journey possible.[2]
She was active as a district school spokesperson in the Wetterau state student council, where at that time she found her political home with the SPD. At university she was active in the student parliament and as a speaker for university policy in theGeneral Students' Committee.[2]
Since the 2011local elections in Hesse, Pawlik has been a city councillor in Bad Nauheim. Together with Sinan Sert, she is chairwoman of the SPD parliamentary group and a member of the main and finance committee. She was elected to the Wetterau district council in the 2016 local elections in Hesse. There she worked in the areas of youth, social affairs, family and health and advocated for equality and at the youth welfare commission.[3]
In the 2021 national election, Pawlik ran in the constituencyWetterau I, winning the constituency with 29.7% and becoming the directly elected member of the20th German Bundestag.[4]
In parliament, Pawlik has since been serving on the Committee on Labour and Social Affairs.[5] In this capacity, she is her parliamentary group’srapporteur for social security benefits and training.[6]
Within her parliamentary group, Pawlik belongs to theParliamentary Left, a left-wing movement.[7]
On 14 April 2022, Pawlik was appointed byFederal Minister of the Interior and CommunityNancy Faeser to succeedBernd Fabritius as the Federal Government Commissioner for Matters Related to Ethnic German Resettlers and National Minorities.[1]
In the negotiations to form aGrand Coalition under the leadership ofFriedrich Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the BavarianCSU) and the SPD following the2025 German elections, Pawlik was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on labour and social affairs, led byCarsten Linnemann,Stephan Stracke andKatja Mast.[8]
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