Armin Laschet

Armin Laschet (born 18 February 1961) is a German politician serving as the Minister-President of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia since 27 June 2017. On 16 January 2021, he was elected as the Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Armin Laschet
Laschet in 2018
Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia
Assumed office
27 June 2017
DeputyJoachim Stamp
Preceded byHannelore Kraft
Leader of the Christian Democratic Union
Assumed office
22 January 2021
DeputySilvia Breher
Volker Bouffier
Julia Klöckner
Thomas Strobl
Jens Spahn
General SecretaryPaul Ziemiak
Preceded byAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
Leader of the Christian Democratic Union in North Rhine-Westphalia
Assumed office
20 June 2012
DeputyRalph Brinkhaus
Karl-Josef Laumann
Jan Heinisch
Ina Scharrenbach
Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker
General SecretaryBodo Löttgen
Josef Hovenjürgen
Preceded byNorbert Röttgen
Deputy Leader of the Christian Democratic Union
In office
5 December 2012 – 16 January 2021
LeaderAngela Merkel
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
Preceded byNorbert Röttgen
Succeeded byJens Spahn
Minister for Generations, Family, Women and Integration of North Rhine-Westphalia
In office
22 May 2005 – 15 July 2010
Minister PresidentJürgen Rüttgers
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
Assumed office
9 May 2010
ConstituencyAt-large (2010–2017)
Aachen II (2017–present)
Member of the European Parliament
In office
20 July 1999 – 29 June 2005
ConstituencyGermany
Member of the Bundestag
for Aachen I
In office
16 October 1994 – 27 September 1998
Preceded byHans Stercken
Succeeded byUlla Schmidt
Personal details
Born (1961-02-19) 19 February 1961
Aachen, West Germany
Political partyCDU
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1985)​
Children
  • Johannes
  • Eva
  • Julius
Parents
  • Heinrich Laschet
  • Marcella Frings
ResidenceBurtscheid
Alma materUniversity of Munich
University of Bonn
Signature
Website

Laschet earned a law degree and worked as a journalist before and during his early political career. In 1994 he was elected to the German Bundestag and in 1999 he became a Member of the European Parliament. In 2005 he entered state politics in North Rhine-Westphalia as a member of the state government. As a cabinet minister he was known for his liberal views and good relations with the immigrant community, earning him the nickname "Turkish Armin". In 2012 he became leader of the state party, and he was elected Prime Minister of the state in 2017. He heads the Cabinet Laschet, consisting of his own CDU and the liberal FDP.

On 16 January 2021, Laschet was elected leader of the CDU, winning 52.8% of delegates votes against Friedrich 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.

He was born to an observant Roman Catholic family of German-speaking Wallonian origin; his father's parents were both of Belgian origin.[2] He is married to Susanne 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 Wallonian origin.

Background

Early life and education

Laschet was born in Burtscheid, a suburb of Aachen, about three kilometres from the Belgian and Dutch borders, to parents Heinrich Laschet and Marcella née Frings; he was raised in an observant Roman Catholic family.[3] His father was a mining engineer at a black coal mine and later became an elementary school teacher and headmaster.[4] The Laschet family is originally from Liège Province in Wallonia in modern Belgium where the family's ancestor Jacques (or Jacob) Laschet lived in Hergenrath in the Duchy of Limburg in the 18th century; his paternal grandfather Hubert Laschet (1899–1984) moved from Hergenrath to Aachen in the 1920s;[lower-alpha 1] his paternal grandmother Hubertina Wetzels (1900–1979) had been born in Aachen to parents who had just moved there from Welkenraedt in Belgium.[5] Like many others in the tri-border area the Laschets had relatives across the national boundaries, who lived in Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany and Neutral Moresnet. Laschet maintains close personal ties to Belgium where members of the Laschet family still live.[2]

He attended the Pius-Gymnasium in Aachen and studied law at the universities of Bonn and Munich, 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 the Cartellverband.

Laschet speaks fluent French.[6]

Laschet worked as a journalist and in the publishing industry from 1986 until 1991, among other things as Bonn correspondent for Bayerischer Rundfunk. He later served as editor-in-chief of the Catholic newspaper KirchenZeitung 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-law Heinrich Malangré.

Family

Laschet is married to his childhood sweetheart Susanne Malangré, whom he met as a child in a Catholic children's choir led by Susanne's father, prominent business executive Heinrich Malangré; they married in 1985.[7] The couple has two sons and a daughter.[6] The family resides in Aachen's Burtscheid district. His wife belongs to a prominent Aachen family of French-speaking Wallonian origin and is the niece of CDU politician and lord mayor of Aachen Kurt Malangré; the Malangré family moved from Haine-Saint-Pierre in Belgium to Stolberg to establish a glass production business in the second half of the 19th century.[8] His son Johannes ("Joe") Laschet, who studied law, is a blogger and model, described as a fashion influencer on Instagram.[9][10]

Political career

Member of the German Bundestag, 1994–1998

Following the 1994 national elections, Laschet became a member of the German Bundestag. He was on the Committee for Economic Cooperation and Development and on the Committee for European Union Affairs.

Member of the European Parliament, 1999–2005

As Member of the European Parliament, Laschet served on the Committee on Budgets between 1999 and 2001 and on the Committee on Foreign Affairs between 2002 and 2005. In the latter capacity, he served as the Parliament's rapporteur on relations between the EU and the United Nations.[11]

Role in state politics

Under Minister-President (Prime Minister) Jürgen 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 against Norbert Röttgen for the post of CDU chairman in the state.[12] 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,[13] serving alongside Volker Bouffier, Julia Klöckner, Thomas Strobl and Ursula von der Leyen.

Laschet currently serves as state MP in the Landtag 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.[14]

In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition of the Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) following the 2013 federal elections, Laschet was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on energy policy, led by Peter Altmaier and Hannelore Kraft.

In November 2015, Laschet visited the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan to learn more about the plight of Syrians fleeing the violence in the ongoing Syrian civil war that erupted in 2011.[15] 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 the Robert Bosch Stiftung.[16]

In November 2016, Laschet was elected leading candidate for the North Rhine-Westphalia state elections in May 2017.[17] He was a CDU delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2017.[18]

Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, 2017–present

Since 27 June 2017 Laschet has been the 11th Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia (Cabinet Laschet). As one of his state's representatives at the Bundesrat, he serves on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Defence Committee.

Ahead of the CDU's leadership election, Laschet announced in February 2020 that he would run for the position of party chairman and his erstwhile rival Jens Spahn would stand as his deputy.[19] Polls subsequently showed voters rated Laschet's management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany's most populous state poorly.[20]

Political positions

European integration

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 the President of the European Commission be elected directly by European voters.[21]

During the European debt crisis, Laschet called for an "open discussion" toward a broad solution to the debt crisis, of which Eurobonds could be a part.[22] He argued that a Greek exit from the Eurozone 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."[23] In October 2011, he signed George Soros' open letter calling for more European Union involvement in the single currency turmoil.[24]

In 2020 alone, Laschet met with French president Emmanuel Macron three times. Alongside Jens Spahn, Laschet was invited by Macron of France to attend the 2020 Bastille Day celebrations in Paris, in a sign of gratitude for their role in helping French citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic in France.[25] In an honour reserved for special guests, Macron invited Laschet into the Élysée Palace's gardens.[26]

Social policy

Laschet was a fierce defender of Chancellor Merkel's migration policies during the European migrant crisis of 2015.[27]

In 2016, Laschet dismissed proposals for a so-called burqa ban as a "phony debate" and distraction from more pressing issues. However, his party later adopted this policy as a core issue.[28][29][30]

Ahead of a parliamentary vote in June 2017, Laschet expressed his opposition against Germany's introduction of same-sex marriage.[31]

In 2018, Laschet described the treehouses protesting the destruction of Hambach forest as "illegally occupied areas" and stated that RWE 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 broadcaster WDR.[32]

Foreign policy

Laschet is considered by some critics as taking a soft stance on the government of President Vladimir Putin.[33][34] Noah Barkin, writing for Foreign Policy, points out that Laschet has voiced support NordStream 2 and for a closer relationship with China and is against excluding Huawei from Germany's 5G network. He adds that Laschet has also been against "demonizing" Putin for the Russian annexation of Crimea.[35]

In 2018, Laschet cancelled his appearances at the Ruhrtriennale arts and music festival due to the festival allowing supporters of the BDS movement to perform.[36]

Other activities

Corporate boards
  • RAG-Stiftung, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2017)[37]

Non-profit organizations

Notes
  1. Hergenrath was historically part of the Duchy of Limburg, one of the provinces of the Burgundian Netherlands. The duchy was multilingual, with Dutch, French, and German dialects spoken. The area was annexed by France at the end of the 18th century, then awarded to Prussia by the Congress of Vienna, and became part of Belgium after World War I. It is now part of the Belgian Liège Province and forms part of the German-speaking Community of Belgium.

References
  1. Moulson, Geir (16 January 2021). "Pragmatic governor Laschet elected to lead Merkel's party". Associated Press. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  2. "Armin Laschet, nieuwe Duitse CDU-leider, heeft Belgische roots: 'Hij heeft nog altijd een nauwe band met ons land'" [Armin Laschet, new German CDU leader, has Belgian roots: 'He still has a close relationship with our country']. Nieuwsblad. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  3. "Armin Laschet". Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands. 14 March 2013.
  4. Reisener, Thomas (14 May 2017). "Armin Laschet im Porträt: Der Mann für den zweiten Blick". RP Online (in German). Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  5. Bernhard Willems, "Die früheren Grundherren des Bereiches von Eupen", Ostbelgische Chronik, Vol. 2, 1949
  6. Karnitschnig, Matthew (25 February 2020). "The wannabe Merkels". Politico Europe. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  7. "Armin Laschet: Immer unterwegs und meistens gut gelaunt". Aachener Nachrichten (in German). 18 May 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  8. Seeling, Hans: Wallonische Industriepioniere in Deutschland, Wahle 1983, p. 178
  9. "Joe Laschet auf Instagram: Der Ryan Gosling für Bonner". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  10. "Prime Minister's son lives in Bonn: Johannes Laschet works as blogger and model". General-Anzeiger. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  11. David Cronin and Martin Banks (19 November 2003), Afghanistan drug trade still proving a tough nut to crack European Voice.
  12. Donahue, Patrick (17 August 2010), Germany’s Roettgen to Run for State CDU Leadership, Bild Says Bloomberg News.
  13. hannover2012.cdu.de: Elections at the 25th party conference of the CDU in Germany
  14. Drucksache 16/12400: Abschlussbericht der Kommission zur Reform der Nordrhein-Westfälischen Verfassung (Verfassungskommission), 27 June 2016 Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.
  15. Helmut Rehmsen (30 November 2015), Gespräch mit Armin Laschet über Flüchtlinge in Jordanien: "Die Grenzen sind hier immer schon offen" Archived 12 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine WDR 2.
  16. Robert Bosch Expert Commission to Consider a Realignment of Refugee Policy Robert Bosch Stiftung.
  17. Armin Laschet ist CDU-Spitzenkandidat in NRW Bild, 26 November 2017.
  18. Wahl der Mitglieder für die 16. Bundesversammlung Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, decision of 14 December 2016.
  19. Guy Chazan (February 25, 2020), Armin Laschet in pole position to head Germany’s CDU Financial Times.
  20. Paul Carrel (September 13, 2020), Would-be Merkel successor Laschet emboldened by local election win Reuters.
  21. Melanie Amann, Peter Müller, René Pfister and Christoph Schult (25 June 2013), Chancellor Merkel Cools on European Integration Der Spiegel.
  22. Jeff Black (16 August 2011), Eurobond Support Growing in Merkel’s CDU, Handelsblatt Reports Bloomberg News.
  23. Matthias Sobolewski (27 August 2012), German lawmakers say "Grexit" not just economic risk Reuters.
  24. George Soros and 95 others (12 October 2011). "As concerned Europeans we urge Eurozone leaders to unite". ft.com. Financial Times. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  25. Maximilian Plück (July 14, 2020), Zeremonie in Paris: Macron lädt Laschet und Spahn zum Nationalfeiertag ein Rheinische Post.
  26. Andreas Rinke and Paul Carrel (October 5, 2020), State premier Laschet is frontrunner to succeed Merkel: party sources Reuters.
  27. Guy Chazan (February 25, 2020), Armin Laschet in pole position to head Germany’s CDU Financial Times.
  28. "Merkel Backs German Full-Veil Ban in Pitch to CDU Members". Bloomberg.com. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  29. Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "German conservatives renew calls for a burqa ban | DW | 02.08.2019". DW.COM. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  30. Justin Huggler (19 August 2016), Germany proposes burka ban for schools, universities and public workers The Daily Telegraph.
  31. "Ehe ist eine Beziehung zwischen Mann und Frau" Die Welt, June 29, 2017.
  32. (www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. "German state set to clear out Hambach Forest treehouses | DW | 13 September 2018". DW.COM. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  33. Andreas Rinke (September 5, 2020), Merkel ally dodges question on gas sanctions on Russia over Navalny case Reuters.
  34. Laurenz Gehrke (January 16, 2021), 5 things to know about German CDU chief Armin Laschet Politico Europe.
  35. Barkin, Noah (18 January 2021). "Armin Laschet Is Merkel's Most Likely Successor. Is He Too Gemütlich?". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  36. Weinthal, Benjamin (8 August 2018). "German governor boycotts anti-Israel music festival affiliated with BDS". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  37. Board of Trustees Archived 20 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine RAG-Stiftung.
  38. Board of Trustees Kunststiftung NRW.
  39. Board of Trustees North Rhine-Westphalian Foundation for the Environment and Development (SUE).
  40. Board of Trustees Bonner Akademie für Forschung und Lehre praktischer Politik (BAPP).
  41. Members of the Jury Wirtschaftliche Gesellschaft für Westfalen und Lippe.
  42. Board of Trustees St. Maria zur Wiese.
  43. Presidium Archived 18 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine United Nations Association of Germany (DGVN).
Political offices
Preceded by
Peter Müller		 Minister President of the North Rhine-Westphalia
2017–present		 Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer		 Leader of the Christian Democratic Union
2021–present		 Incumbent
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