Frank-Walter Steinmeier

Infobox Politician
name = Frank-Walter Steinmeier

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imagesize = 200px
caption =
small_

office = Vice Chancellor of Germany
term_start = November 21, 2007
term_end =
predecessor = Franz Müntefering
successor =
office2 = Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany
term_start2 = November 22, 2005
term_end2 =
predecessor2 = Joschka Fischer
successor2 =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1956|1|5|mf=y
birth_place = Detmold, West Germany flagicon|West Germany
nationality = German flagicon|Germany
death_date =
death_place =
alma_mater = University of Giessen
party = Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, (born 5 January 1956) is a German politician who has served as the Foreign Minister of Germany since 22 November 2005 in the Grand Coalition of Angela Merkel. On 21 November 2007, he replaced Franz Müntefering as Vice-Chancellor. In the first half of 2007 he was also President of the European Council. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), and on 7 September 2008, Steinmeier was designated as the candidate of the SPD for the office of Federal Chancellor of Germany in the next election.

Early Life

Steinmeier was born in Detmold. Following his "Abitur", he served his military service from 1974 until 1976. He then studied law and political science at the Justus-Liebig-Universität of Gießen. In 1982 he passed his first and 1986 his second state exam in law. He worked as scientific assistant to the professor of public law and political science at the Gießen university, until he obtained his doctorate of law in 1991.

Steinmeier is married and has one daughter.

Member of the Bundestag

Steinmeier became an adviser in 1991 for law of communication media and media guidelines in the state Chancellery of Lower Saxony in Hanover. In 1993, he became director of the personal office for the then Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Gerhard Schröder. In 1996, he became the Undersecretary of State and Director of the State Chancellery of Lower Saxony.

Steinmeier was appointed in November 1998 as Undersecretary of State in the Office of the Chancellor following Schröder's election victory. He replaced Bodo Hombach as the head of the Office of the Chancellor in 1999. Because of his effective management beyond the spotlight of politics, he was nick-named "Die Graue Effizienz" (The Grey Efficiency) - alluding to Friedrich von Holstein, "Die Graue Eminenz" (The Grey Eminence) of the German government around 1900.

In government

On 22 November, 2005 he became the new Foreign Minister of Germany in the coalition cabinet formed by Angela Merkel. Steinmeier is the first SPD Foreign Minister since Willy Brandt (1966-1969).

Following Franz Müntefering's announcement that he would leave the government on 21 November 2007, Steinmeier was announced as Müntefering's replacement as Vice-Chancellor. [Andreas Cremer and Brian Parkin, [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=avKnSh84M5yQ&refer=europe "Muentefering, Vice-Chancellor Under Merkel, Quits"] , Bloomberg.com, November 13, 2007.]

Chairman of the Social Democratic Party

On September 7 2008, SPD Chairman Kurt Beck resigned at a party meeting in Werder and Steinmeier was chosen as the SPD candidate for Chancellor in the 2009 election. Steinmeier was also designated as interim SPD Chairman, although Müntefering was expected to return to that position. [ [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/08/content_9840654.htm "German SPD party reshuffles leadership, with eye on election"] , Xinhua, September 7, 2008.]

References

External links

*de icon [http://zeus.zeit.de/text/archiv/2000/36/200036_steinmeier.xml Werner A. Perger: "Dr. Makellos". 2000]
*de icon [http://www.stern.de/politik/deutschland/526524.html?eid=540855&s=5&nv=ex_rt Hans-Peter Schütz: "Frank Walter Steinmeier: Der Kanzler-Flüsterer". 2005]
* [http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=434 The Curator of Germany's Secret Services Will Shape his Country's Foreign Policy]
* [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,5830,1741310,00.html Germany's New Face Abroad]
* [http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10952400&PageNum=0 Turkmenistan invites Russia, Germany to lay gas pipeline to Europe]
* [http://www.payvand.com/news/06/nov/1040.html Central Asia: German Foreign Minister Seeks EU-Wide Policy]
* [http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061104-110607-2320r German leader ends trip to Central Asia]