Hans-Peter Friedrich | |
|---|---|
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| Vice President of the Bundestag (on proposal of the CDU/CSU-faction) | |
| In office 24 October 2017 – 26 October 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Johannes Singhammer |
| Succeeded by | Yvonne Magwas |
| Minister of Food and Agriculture | |
| In office 17 December 2013 – 17 February 2014 | |
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Preceded by | Ilse Aigner |
| Succeeded by | Christian Schmidt |
| Minister of the Interior | |
| In office 3 March 2011 – 17 December 2013 | |
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Preceded by | Thomas de Maizière |
| Succeeded by | Thomas de Maizière |
| First Deputy Leader of theCDU/CSU Group in theBundestag | |
| In office 28 October 2009 – 3 March 2011 | |
| Leader | Volker Kauder |
| Preceded by | Peter Ramsauer |
| Succeeded by | Gerda Hasselfeldt |
| Member of theBundestag forHof | |
| Assumed office 17 October 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Petra Ernstberger |
| Member of theBundestag forBavaria | |
| In office 26 October 1998 – 17 October 2002 | |
| Constituency | Party-list proportional representation |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1957-03-10)10 March 1957 (age 68) |
| Party | Christian Social Union |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | University of Augsburg |
Hans-Peter Friedrich (born 10 March 1957) is a German politician of theChristian Social Union (CSU) who has been serving as a member of the GermanBundestag from1998 to2025 . Under the leadership ofChancellorAngela Merkel, he served asFederal Minister of the Interior (2011-2013)[1] and asMinister for Food and Agriculture (2013). Friedrich resigned from that position in February 2014. Friedrich has a controversial history with minorities in Germany, causing outrage in 2013 after telling journalists that Islam in Germany is not something supported by history at any point.[2]
Born in 1957 inNaila, near the northernBavarian town ofHof, Friedrich has aPhD in law and also studied economics. From 1990 to 1991, Friedrich worked in theFederal Ministry for Economic Affairs and the economy department of theGermany Embassy inWashington, D.C.[3]
Friedrich began his national political career as an aide toMichael Glos, a senior CSU official in parliament.[4]
Friedrich has been a member of the Bundestag since the1998 federal elections,.[4] He was deputy chairman of theinvestigating committee for party donations from 1999 until 2002 and for electoral fraud from 2002 until 2004. From 2002 until 2005 he was also judicial counselor of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.
Following the2005 federal elections, when his party joined aGrand Coalition withAngela Merkel asChancellor, Friedrich became deputy chairman of the parliamentary group under the leadership ofVolker Kauder, covering the portfolio of housing and development.[5] Between 2007 and 2009, he was one of 32 members of theSecond Commission on the modernization of the federal state, which had been established to reform the division of powers between federal and state authorities in Germany.
In the negotiations to form acoalition government following the2009 federal elections, Friedrich led the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on transport and building policies; his co-chair from theFDP wasPatrick Döring.
From 2009, Friedrich led the CSU in parliament, replacingPeter Ramsauer. During that time, he was said to have enjoyed a good relationship with Merkel and to have often sided with national interests over Bavarian ones.[3] Economic policy was widely seen as his passion as he has supported raising the retirement age to 67 despite opposition from CSU leaderHorst Seehofer.[3] He also played a behind-the-scenes part in crafting Germany's response to the euro zone crisis.[3]
On 3 March 2011 Friedrich succeededThomas de Maizière asFederal Minister of the Interior[1] who replacedKarl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. The fact that Friedrich, like Guttenberg, came from the northern Bavarian area ofUpper Franconia meant that his appointment ensured the regional balance of power within the CSU was maintained.[3]
On the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of thediplomatic relations between German andIndia, Friedrich participated in the first joint cabinet meeting of the two countries’ governments inDelhi in May 2011.[6] On 7 June 2011 he attended thestate dinner hosted by PresidentBarack Obama in honor ofChancellorAngela Merkel at theWhite House.[7]
European integration
In early 2012, Friedrich became ChancellorAngela Merkel’s first Cabinet member to suggestGreece’s exit from theeuro. In an interview withDer Spiegel, he said Greece would have better chances of overhauling its economy and restoring growth if it left the euro area.[8]
In late 2012, Friedrich called for the immediate suspension of the visa-free regime forSerbia andMacedonia after more than 7,000 citizens of the two countries applied for asylum in Germany within one year.[9]
Surveillance
In the wake of the USNational Security Agency's (NSA) internet surveillance scandal aroundPRISM in 2013, Friedrich was long perceived as not particularly devoted to investigating the full scope of NSA spying activities in Germany.[10] Instead, he defended the NSA's methods and promptly demanded legislation changes, in order to be able to expand surveillance of communication traffic by the GermanBundesnachrichtendienst as well.[11] In an effort to point out how valuable information provided by the NSA can be for Germany, he argued that forty-five terror attacks had been prevented by the Prism program, including five in Germany; however, he soon back-peddled, unable to pinpoint the five instances.[12] In a later interview withMünchner Merkur newspaper, Friedrich held thatEdward Snowden was not a victim of political persecution.[13]
In the negotiations to form a so-calledGrand Coalition following the2013 federal elections, Friedrich led the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on internal affairs and justice; his co-chair from the SPD wasThomas Oppermann.
Friedrich was sworn in as Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture in thethird cabinet ofFederal ChancellorAngela Merkel on 17 December 2013. He resigned on 14 February 2014,[14] reacting to imminent legal investigations into incidents during his tenure as Federal Minister of the Interior. He is accused of betrayingstate secrets about legal investigations intoSocial Democrat Party (SPD) heads during the coalition negotiations after the federal elections in 2013. Prosecutors complained that the leak may have compromised their inquiry.[15] The investigations showed MPSebastian Edathy's link to aglobally-operating child pornography syndicate,[16] and plans to take up an investigation against Edathy on suspicion of possessing such material.[14]
Following the2017 elections, Friedrich was elected as one of thevice presidents of theGerman Parliament, under the leadership of PresidentWolfgang Schäuble. In this capacity, he also joined the parliament'sCouncil of Elders, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigns committee chairpersons based on party representation.
In 2020, Friedrich co-founded the “China-Bridge” initiative, a non-profit networking association to strengthen links between Germany and China.[17][18]
In 2024, Friedrich announced that he would not stand in the2025 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.[19]
Friedrich is married with three children.[23]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of the Interior 2011–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byas Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection | Minister of Food and Agriculture 2013–2014 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| People | |
| Other | |
