Armin Laschet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Laschet in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of the Christian Democratic Union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 22 January 2021 – 31 January 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General Secretary | Paul Ziemiak | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Jens Spahn Thomas Strobl Volker Bouffier Julia Klöckner Silvia Breher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Friedrich Merz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 27 June 2017 – 26 October 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Joachim Stamp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Hannelore Kraft | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Hendrik Wüst | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1961-02-18)18 February 1961 (age 64) Aachen,West Germany | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Christian Democratic Union | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Burtscheid | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Munich University of Bonn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Armin Laschet ([ˈaʁmiːnˈlaʃət]ⓘ; born 18 February 1961) is a German politician who served asMinister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 27 June 2017 to 26 October 2021. He served asLeader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 22 January 2021 to 31 January 2022. He was elected to the GermanBundestag following the2021 German federal election.
Laschet earned a law degree and worked as a journalist before and during his early political career. In 1994 he was elected to the GermanBundestag and in 1999 he became aMember of the European Parliament. In 2005 he entered state politics in North Rhine-Westphalia as a member of the state government. In 2012 he became leader of the state party, and he was elected Prime Minister of the state in 2017. HisCabinet consisted of members of his own CDU and the liberalFree Democratic Party (FDP).
In January 2021, Laschet waselected leader of the CDU, winning 52.8% of delegates votes againstFriedrich Merz in the second round of the contest.[1] The result of the election was certified by postal vote of the party conference's delegates with the final result announced on 22 January. It was confirmed on 20 April 2021 that he would be theCDU/CSU candidate forChancellor of Germany at the2021 German federal election, after rivalMarkus Söder conceded.[2]
He was born to an observantRoman Catholic family of German-speakingWalloon origin; his father's parents were both ofBelgian origin.[3] He is married toSusanne Malangré, whom he met in a Catholic children's choir when they were children and who is a member of a prominent Aachen political family of French-speaking Walloon origin.
On 9 February 2024, he was awarded an honorary doctorate fromTED University.[4]
Laschet is a lecturer in political science at theUniversity of Munich.[5]
Laschet was born inBurtscheid, a suburb ofAachen, about three kilometres from the Belgian and Dutch borders, to parents Heinrich Laschet and Marcella née Frings; he was raised in an observantRoman Catholic family.[6] His father was amining engineer at ablack coal mine and later became an elementary school teacher and headmaster.[7] The Laschet family is originally fromLiège Province inWallonia in modern Belgium where the family's ancestor Jacques (or Jacob) Laschet lived inHergenrath in theDuchy of Limburg in the 18th century; his paternal grandfather Hubert Laschet (1899–1984) moved from Hergenrath to Aachen in the 1920s;[a] his paternal grandmother Hubertina Wetzels (1900–1979) had been born in Aachen to parents who had just moved there fromWelkenraedt in Belgium.[8] Like many others in the tri-border area the Laschets had relatives across the national boundaries, who lived in Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany andNeutral Moresnet. Laschet maintains close personal ties to Belgium where members of the Laschet family still live.[3]
He attended the Pius-Gymnasium inAachen and studied law at the universities ofBonn andMunich, passing the first state examination in law in 1987. He studied journalism from 1986 to 1988. In Munich he became a member of K.D.St.V. Aenania München, a Catholic student fraternity that is member of theCartellverband.
Laschet speaks fluent French.[9]
Laschet worked as a journalist and in the publishing industry from 1986 until 1991, among other things as Bonn correspondent forBayerischer Rundfunk. He later served as editor-in-chief of the Catholic newspaperKirchenZeitung Aachen from 1991 until 1994. From 1995 to 1999, while also serving as a member of parliament, he was CEO of the Catholic publishing company Einhard-Verlag, which had previously been led by his father-in-lawHeinrich Malangré.
After serving as staffer to thePresident of the Bundestag, Laschet became a member of the GermanBundestag in the1994 election. He was elected in the single-member constituency ofAachen I, after the incumbent Hans Stercken retired. He was on the Committee for Economic Cooperation and Development and on the Committee for European Union Affairs.[citation needed] In addition, he was part of the so-called "Pizza-Connection" (a reference to an American drug ring).[10] A number of informal meeting of a group of youngBundestag Members from both the CDU andthe Greens. This was later seen as controversial, because it solidified an image of him as a liberal/centrist member of the CDU.[11] He lost re-election in the1998 SPD landslide to futureHealth MinisterUlla Schmidt.
AsMember of the European Parliament, Laschet served on theCommittee on Budgets between 1999 and 2001 and on theCommittee on Foreign Affairs between 2002 and 2005. In the latter capacity, he served as the Parliament'srapporteur on relations between the EU and the United Nations.[12]
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UnderMinister PresidentJürgen Rüttgers in North Rhine-Westphalia, Laschet served as State Minister for Generations, Family, Women and Integration from 2005 until 2010, and as State Minister for Federal Affairs, Europe and Media from 2010. In 2010, he unsuccessfully ran againstNorbert Röttgen for the post of CDU chairman in the state.[13] When Röttgen resigned from that office in 2012, Laschet was elected as his successor. On 4 December 2012, he was elected as one of five deputy chairpersons of the national CDU party, serving alongsideVolker Bouffier,Julia Klöckner,Thomas Strobl andUrsula von der Leyen.[14]
Laschet currently serves as state MP in theLandtag of North Rhine-Westphalia and also chairs the CDU's state chapter (Landesverband). From 2014 until 2016, he was a member of the North Rhine-Westphalia Commission for Constitutional Reform, led by Rainer Bovermann.[15]
In the negotiations to form aGrand Coalition of the Christian Democrats (CDU together with the BavarianCSU) and theSocial Democrats (SPD) following the2013 federal elections, Laschet was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on energy policy, led byPeter Altmaier andHannelore Kraft.[citation needed]
In November 2015, Laschet visited theZaatari refugee camp in Jordan to learn more about the plight ofSyrians fleeing the violence in the ongoingSyrian civil war that erupted in 2011.[16] Between March 2015 and January 2016, he chaired the Robert Bosch Expert Commission to Consider a Realignment of Refugee Policy, an expert group convened by theRobert Bosch Stiftung.[17]
In November 2016, Laschet was elected leading candidate for theNorth Rhine-Westphalia state elections in May 2017 which he won in what was widely considered an upset victory.[18] He was a CDU delegate to theFederal Convention for the purpose of electing thePresident of Germany in 2017.[19]
In December 2016, Laschet presided over the CDU's national convention inEssen.[20]
Laschet served as the 11thMinister President ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia from 2017 to 2021.Laschet's government was a coalition between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and theFree Democratic Party (FDP). As one of his state's representatives at theBundesrat, he serves as a member of the Federal Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Defence Committee.[21]
FollowingAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer's announcement on 10 February 2020 that she would step down as CDU party leader before the end of 2020 and would not stand as a candidate for chancellor in the 2021 federal elections, Laschet announced at a national press conference on 25 February 2020 that he would run for the party presidency, and thus also for the chancellorship. He namedJens Spahn[22] as his vice-presidential candidate, withFriedrich Merz[23] andNorbert Röttgen[24] as his challengers.
Polls subsequently showed that voters rated Laschet's management of theCOVID-19 pandemic in Germany's most populous state poorly.[25]
The election of the new CDU party president, after several postponements due to the coronavirus epidemic, took place only at the two-day party congress in mid-January 2021, which was the first fully digital congress in the party's history. On the second day of the congress, 16 January 2021, Laschet won 38.42% of the votes in the first round and 52.79% in the second round. He thus became the new president of the CDU.[26][27]
After his defeat at the head of his party in thefederal elections, he resigned from the party leadership on 7 October. His place was taken by Merz, who finally succeeded in his third attempt, in the election of the party president on 17 December 2021.[28]
However, the strong intra-party divisions that were also evident in the vote could have led to a jointCDU/CSU chancellorship candidacy forMarkus Söder, the president of the smallerBavarian sister party, the CSU.[29] Polls conducted immediately before the party congress showed that 55 percent of voters considered Söder a good candidate for chancellor, while 80 percent of CDU/CSU supporters thought he was a good candidate, compared to only 27 percent and 32 percent respectively for Laschet.[30]
Söder opted for a wait-and-see strategy, finally announcing at a press conference inMunich on 19 April 2021 that he would not delay the nomination of his candidate for chancellor as the federal elections approached, and that he and his party, the CSU, would therefore accept the decision of the CDU's "big sister" executive board meeting, which began that day, as binding on both him and his party, the CSU. Subsequently, following a late-night meeting of the CDU leadership inBerlin, it was announced that in asecret ballot, 77.5 percent of those present at the meeting had finally backed Laschet, compared to just 22.5 percent for Söder. Thus, it was a foregone conclusion that Armin Laschet would be in the running to become chancellor of the CDU/CSU coalition in September 2021.[31] Asked why he did not step aside from his own candidacy for chancellor, as polls had shown that he had significantly worse chances than the CSU president, Laschet said he remembered it well, that during the campaign for the 2017 North Rhine-Westphalian state parliamentary elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, when he was given similarly low odds by pollsters against the then incumbent SPD state premierHannelore Kraft, he still won the election.[32]
Subsequently, Laschet tried to "channel" the far greater popularity of his biggest rival within the CDU by recruiting Merz to his campaign team, saying that he "belonged in the team" and that his economic and financial expertise would be crucial in helping them to overcome the huge challenge of the pandemic in a sustainable way.[33]
Already at the party congress in Rhineland-Palatinate in May 2021, Laschet called for theGreens to be the main political opponent in the upcoming election campaign. He set the goal of preventing the formation of a Red–Red–Green (SPD–Left–Greens) coalition.
As his party's candidate to succeed Merkel in thenational elections, Laschet was initially seen as having made an uncertain start to his campaign[34] and faced calls to chart a more right-wing course to win back voters disenchanted by the incumbent coalition government. However, the party's win in theSaxony-Anhalt elections was later interpreted as a boost to Laschet.[35]
Laschet presented the joint CDU/CSU election platform with Söder on 21 June 2021. In the programme, they stated that combating the pandemic,climate change and defending prosperity and freedom are global challenges, and that their goal is to create a Germany open to the world, which strives for both modernisation andgreen policies.[36]
While visitingErftstadt, a flood-hit town, Laschet was caught laughing on camera and came under fire later despite his apology that 'It was stupid and shouldn't have happened and I regret it'. This was a decisive factor in the fact that all but 7 percent of those surveyed were positive about the provincial premier's management of the flood crisis. Following this incident, CDU/CSU suffered heavily in opinion polls and SPD took the lead.[37][38] Laschet faced another scandal at the end of the month, when it emerged that he, like his fellow Green Party candidate for chancellorAnnalena Baerbock, was facing accusations ofplagiarism.Die Aufsteigerrepublik. Zuwanderung als Chance, was written in 2009 and he finally admitted his "mistake", and apologised.
In the2021 German federal election on 26 September, Laschet had to compete for the post of Chancellor againstOlaf Scholz of the SPD. He did not contest anindividual constituency.[39] His home constituency ofAachen I, which he had represented from 1994 to 1998 and was expected to be his constituency, swung to the Greens on election day.
Opinion poll predictions came true,[40] with the SPD winning the most votes (25.7%), while the CDU/CSU had their worst result ever (24.1%). His former constituency ofAachen I, which he had represented from 1994 to 1998, swung to the Greens on election day.Alliance 90/The Greens finished third with 14.8%, just ahead of theFDP with 11.5%, and both became the "kingmakers". Two months later, they came together with the SDP to form a coalition and Olaf Scholz was elected chancellor. Following the election, Laschet claimed personal responsibility for the party's loss.[41]
After the election, Laschet resigned as Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia on 25 October 2021 in order to resume hismembership of theBundestag.[42] He also resigned as the Leader of the CDU and was replaced by Friedrich Merz, who had won theleadership contest.[43] He remained a member of the Bundestag after being re-elected on the North Rhine-Westphalia party list and sat on multiple subcommittees.[44] He was nominated as the CDU's candidate for his former constituency of Aachen I in the2025 German federal election.[45]
Laschet has been criticised for hesitancy in efforts to mitigateclimate change.[46][47][48][49] As Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia he claimed that the state was a "pioneer" in climate protection. Environmental organisations have rebuked this claim.[50][51] In his tenure the expansion ofwind power "collapsed" in North Rhine-Westphalia while under his leadership the state government enforced a phaseout of threecoal-fired power plants not before the maximum date of 2038.[50]
In 2018, shortly after taking over as Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Laschet supported the minister of the environment Christina Schulze Föcking's decision to dismantle the state's administrative department for environmental crimes.[52] Public broadcasterWDR reported that prior to its dismantling the department had been investigating accusations over pig farming at the farm of Schulze Föcking's family.[52]
During the2021 floods in the district of Ahrweiler, he said, "One does not change one's politics because today is such a day."[53]
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On European integration, Laschet seeks to strengthen the European Union on issues such as fighting international terrorism and organized crime, as well as energy policy. He also wants to see thePresident of the European Commission be elected directly by EU voters.[54]
During the European debt crisis, Laschet called for an "open discussion" toward a broad solution to the debt crisis, of whichEurobonds could be a part.[55] He argued that a Greek exit from theEurozone could trigger undesirable upheaval in southern Europe: "(An exit) could lead to instability in a NATO member state. Russia is standing ready with billions to help Greece in such a scenario."[56] In October 2011, he signedGeorge Soros' open letter calling for moreEuropean Union involvement in the single currency turmoil.[57]
In 2020 alone, Laschet met with French presidentEmmanuel Macron three times. AlongsideJens Spahn, Laschet was invited by Macron of France to attend the 2020Bastille Day celebrations in Paris, in a sign of gratitude for their role in helping French citizens during theCOVID-19 pandemic in France.[58] In an honour reserved for special guests, Macron invited Laschet into theÉlysée Palace's gardens.[59]
Laschet was a fierce defender of Chancellor Merkel's migration policies during theEuropean migrant crisis of 2015.[60]
In 2016, Laschet dismissed proposals for a so-calledburqa ban as a "phony debate" and distraction from more pressing issues. However, his party later adopted this policy as a core issue.[61][62][63]
Ahead of a parliamentary vote in June 2017, Laschet expressed his opposition against Germany's introduction ofsame-sex marriage,[64] going so far as to say it would be unconstitutional.[65] During the2021 German federal election Laschet gave a different position in a town hall, where he claimed he would have voted in favour of same-sex marriage.[66]
In 2018, Laschet described thetreehouses protesting the destruction ofHambach forest as "illegally occupied areas" and stated thatRWE had the right to clear the forest. "The state government is there to ensure that the law that applies is enforced," he said during a talk show on German public broadcasterWDR.[67]
Laschet considers Germany to be insufficiently prepared for global political challenges. In his view, the country lacks the will to pursue a foreign policy that is independent of other major powers such as Russia or the US. Laschet also hopes for more strategic thinking and action from the EU, saying it "must become fit for global politics."[68]
In 2015, Laschet was criticised for not standing up for German interests when it was revealed that US intelligence agencies are illegally spying on German citizens and businesses.[69] German experts estimate that by the year 2000, American industrial espionage was already causing annual economic losses of at least €10 billion per year due to stolen inventions and development projects – the number having likely only risen since then due to the increase ofdigitisation. Despite these revelations, Laschet supportedAngela Merkel's policy, which in leaked cables was revealed to be to "sit out" the pressure from the German public andBundestag.[70]
Laschet is considered by some critics as taking a soft stance on the government ofPresident Vladimir Putin.[71][72] Laschet has voiced support forNord Stream 2 and for a closer relationship with China and is against excludingHuawei from Germany's 5G network. However, Germany'sFederal Office for Information Security has supported Laschet's position, saying that comprehensive investigations into Huawei's hardware and software have produced no evidence of wrongdoing and that an exclusion is unjustified.[73] Barkin further argues that Laschet has also been against "demonizing" Putin for theRussian annexation of Crimea.[74] At the same time, Laschet said that Germany should increase military spending and take on a greater share of military burdens within NATO. He argued that theBundeswehr should take on more responsibility in Africa, around the Mediterranean and in Mali.[75]
In 2018, Laschet cancelled his appearances at theRuhrtriennale arts and music festival due to the festival allowing supporters of theBDS movement to perform.[76] In 2021, he pledged support for Israel: "We stand by Israel's side without reservation."[68]
In 2013, Laschet criticised Foreign MinisterGuido Westerwelle's support for rebels in thecivil war in Syria: "It is absurd that the same people we are fighting inMali are being supported in Syria. It is the terrorist groupsal-Nusra andal-Qaida, financed fromQatar andSaudi Arabia, who are introducingSharia courts and fighting Syria's religious diversity".[77] In 2013, Laschet also criticised Westerwelle's demand to release former PresidentMohammed Mursi after thecoup in Egypt in 2013, as minorities and Christians in particular had suffered under Mursi.[77]
Laschet described the chaoticwithdrawal of Western troops fromAfghanistan andFall of Kabul to theTaliban in August 2021 as the "biggest debacle that NATO has suffered since its founding".[78]
In November 2023, Laschet criticized the German federal government for not voting againstUnited Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-10/21.[79] In December 2023, Laschet criticized the invocation of article 99 of the UN Charta due to the2023 Gaza humanitarian crisis by Secretary-General of the United NationsAntónio Guterres, as this would apply double standards and has the potential to discredit the UN: "Dieser Artikel wurde nicht gezogen, als 500.000 Menschen in Syrien ums Leben kamen, nicht als Russland die Ukraine angriff oder bei Hunderttausenden zivilen Opfern im Jemenkrieg."[80]
Laschet is married to his childhood sweetheartSusanne Malangré, whom he met as a child in a Catholic children's choir led by Susanne's father, prominent business executiveHeinrich Malangré; they married in 1985.[81] The couple has two sons and a daughter.[9] The family resides in Aachen'sBurtscheid district. His wife belongs to a prominent Aachen family of French-speakingWalloon origin and is the niece of CDU politician and lord mayor of AachenKurt Malangré; the Malangré family moved fromHaine-Saint-Pierre in Belgium toStolberg to establish aglass production business in the second half of the 19th century.[82] His son Johannes ("Joe") Laschet, who studies law, is a blogger and model, described as a fashioninfluencer on Instagram.[83][84] He is aRoman Catholic.[85]
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| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia 2017–2021 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | Leader of the Christian Democratic Union 2021–2022 | Succeeded by |
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