Frank-Walter Steinmeier | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Steinmeier in 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
President of Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Assumed office 19 March 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chancellor | Angela Merkel Olaf Scholz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Joachim Gauck | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vice Chancellor of Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 21 November 2007 – 27 October 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chancellor | Angela Merkel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Franz Müntefering | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Guido Westerwelle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 17 December 2013 – 27 January 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chancellor | Angela Merkel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Guido Westerwelle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Sigmar Gabriel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 22 November 2005 – 27 October 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chancellor | Angela Merkel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Joschka Fischer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Guido Westerwelle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leader of the Opposition | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 28 October 2009 – 16 December 2013[a] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chancellor | Angela Merkel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Guido Westerwelle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Gregor Gysi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany | 5 January 1956||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Social Democratic Party | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | University of Giessen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Signature | ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Military service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Branch/service | Bundeswehr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years of service | 1974–1976 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unit | German Air Force | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frank-Walter Steinmeier (German: [ˈfʁaŋkˌvaltɐ ˈʃtaɪnˌmaɪ.ɐ] ; born 5 January 1956)[1] is a German politician who became president of Germany on 19 March 2017.[2] He was previously federal minister for foreign affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017, as well as vice chancellor of Germany from 2007 to 2009. Steinmeier was chairman-in-office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2016.
Steinmeier is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), holds a doctorate in law and was formerly a career civil servant. He was a close aide of Gerhard Schröder when Schröder was minister-president of Lower Saxony during most of the 1990s, and served as Schröder's chief of staff from 1996. When Schröder became Chancellor of Germany in 1998, Steinmeier was appointed Under-Secretary of State in the German Chancellery with the responsibility for the intelligence services. From 1999 to 2005 he served as Chief of Staff of the Chancellery.
Following the 2005 federal election, Steinmeier became foreign minister in the first grand coalition government of Angela 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 the 2009 federal election, but his party lost the election and he left the federal cabinet to become leader of the opposition. Following the 2013 federal election, he again became Minister for Foreign Affairs in Merkel's second grand coalition. In November 2016 he was announced as the candidate for President of Germany of the governing coalition, consisting of his own party and the CDU/CSU, and thus became the presumptive electee, as the coalition held a large majority in the Federal Convention. He left the cabinet on 27 January 2017.[3] He was elected president by the Federal Convention on 12 February 2017 with 74% of the vote. On 13 February 2022, he was re-elected by the Federal Convention for a second and final term with 78% of the vote.[4]
Steinmeier belongs to the right wing of the SPD, known as reformists and moderates.[5] As chief of staff, he was a principal architect of Agenda 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]
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