Michael Kretschmer

Last updated

Annett Hoffmann
​
(m. 2020)​
Michael Kretschmer
MdL MdBR
2022-03-28 Michael Kretschmer (cropped).jpg
Kretschmer in 2022
Deputy Leader of the
Christian Democratic Union
Incumbent
Assumed office
22 January 2022
Children2
Residence(s) Dresden-Klotzsche
Waltersdorf
Alma mater
Website michaelkretschmer.de

Michael Kretschmer (born 7 May 1975) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as Minister President of Saxony since December 2017. [1] Since 2022, he has been one of four deputy chairs of the CDU, under the leadership of chairman Friedrich Merz. [2]

Contents

Political career

Member of Parliament, 2002–2017

From 2002 to 2017 Kretschmer was a member of the Bundestag as directly elected representative for Görlitz. He first served on the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment. In the negotiations to form a coalition government under Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2009 federal elections, he was a member of the working group on economic affairs and energy, led by Annette Schavan and Andreas Pinkwart. [3]

From 2009 to 2017 Kretschmer was one of the vice chairs of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, under the leadership of chairman Volker Kauder. [4] During his time in parliament, he was also of the German-Russian Parliamentary Friendship Group and the German-Polish Parliamentary Friendship Group.

In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the SPD following the 2013 federal elections, Kretschmer led the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on cultural and media affairs; his counterpart of the SPD was Klaus Wowereit. Over the following years, he co-chaired the CDU's national conventions in Karlsruhe (2015), [5] Essen (2016) [6] and Berlin (2018). [7]

Kretschmer lost reelection in 2017 to Tino Chrupalla of the AfD. [8] [9]

Minister-President of Saxony, 2017–present

On 18 October 2017, Stanislaw Tillich announced his resignation as Minister President of Saxony and suggested that Kretschmer should replace him. [10] He is only the fourth and also the youngest person to hold that office. [8]

As one of Saxony's representatives at the Bundesrat, Kretschmer has been serving as member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs since 2017. In addition, he is a member of the German-Russian Friendship Group set up in cooperation with Russia's Federation Council.

In the negotiations to form a fourth cabinet under Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Kretschmer co-chaired the working group on transport and infrastructure, alongside Alexander Dobrindt and Sören Bartol.

In December 2021, ZDF journalists discovered a plot by anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown extremists to assassinate Kretschmer, which led to an investigation by Saxon police and searchings for weapons through several houses in Dresden. [11] [12]

Since 2022, Kretschmer, alongside Karl-Josef Laumann, has been chairing a working group in charge of drafting policies on social security for the CDU's new party platform. [13]

He was re-elected following the 2024 Saxony state election. [14]

Other activities

Political positions

In June 2017, Kretschmer voted against Germany's introduction of same-sex marriage. [22]

In June 2019, Kretschmer called for the lifting of EU sanctions against Russia. [23] This was immediately rejected by CDU chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. [24] Later that year, Kretschmer met with Russian president Vladimir Putin at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. [23]

He was opposed to restrictions during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and even attended an anti-lockdown demonstration, but changed his mind and apologised in December 2020. In November 2021 he disagreed with Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn on ending the nationwide state of emergency. [12]

Controversy

During his tenure as secretary general of the CDU in Saxony, Kretschmer faced criticism after reports surfaced in 2010 that personal meetings with party chairman and Minister-President Stanislaw Tillich were offered to potential corporate sponsors in exchange for donations. [25]

References

  1. ↑ "Michael Kretschmer ist neuer Ministerpräsident von Sachsen". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  2. ↑ Lorenz Hemicker (2 January 2022), Unmut gegenüber Frauen Union? Widmann-Mauz scheitert bei CDU-Präsidiumswahl Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung .
  3. ↑ "Koalitionsverhandlungen: Wen Union und FDP zum Feilschen schicken". Der Spiegel (in German). Spiegel Online. 6 October 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  4. ↑ "Deutscher Bundestag – Kretschmer, Michael". Deutscher Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  5. ↑ Protokoll: 28. Parteitag der CDU Deutschlands, 14. – 15. Dezember 2015, Karlsruhe Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU).
  6. ↑ Protokoll: 29. Parteitag der CDU Deutschlands, 6. – 7. Dezember 2016, Essen Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
  7. ↑ Protokoll: 30. Parteitag der CDU Deutschlands, 26. Februar 2018, Berlin Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
  8. 1 2 Schurig, Jörg; Fischer, Martin (10 December 2017). "Michael Kretschmer – vom Wahlverlierer zum Parteikapitän". Leipziger Volkszeitung (in German). Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  9. ↑ Lang, Anna-Sophia (9 December 2017). ""Auch ein Besenstiel wäre gewählt worden"". Spiegel Online (in German). Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  10. ↑ "Merkel Ally Resigns as Saxony's Leader After Losses to AfD". Bloomberg.com. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  11. ↑ "Mordkomplott mot tysk politiker efter vaccinutspel". DN.SE (in Swedish). 15 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  12. 1 2 Schumacher, Elizabeth (8 December 2021). "German police investigating anti-vax assassination plot against Saxony leader Michael Kretschmer". Deutsche Welle . Deutsche Welle . Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  13. ↑ Robert Roßmann (22 April 2023), "Aus Gründen der Generationengerechtigkeit": Unionspolitiker wollen Rente an Lebenserwartung koppeln Süddeutsche Zeitung .
  14. ↑ mdr.de. "Michael Kretschmer im zweiten Wahlgang als Ministerpräsident wiedergewählt | MDR.DE". www.mdr.de (in German). Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  15. ↑ Board of Trustees Development and Peace Foundation (SEF).
  16. ↑ Board of Trustees Deutsches Museum.
  17. ↑ Board of Trustees Dresden Frauenkirche.
  18. ↑ as of July 1, 2020 Max Planck Society.
  19. ↑ Board of Trustees Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids.
  20. ↑ Board of Trustees Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems.
  21. ↑ Board of Trustees Senckenberg Nature Research Society.
  22. ↑ Diese Unionsabgeordneten stimmten für die Ehe für alle Die Welt , 30 June 2017.
  23. 1 2 Christiane Hoffmann, Timo Lehmann, Veit Medick and Ralf Neukirch (29 July 2019), Relations with Moscow Emerge as German Election Issue Der Spiegel .
  24. ↑ Merkel party leader rejects call to end Russia sanctions Associated Press , 8 June 2019.
  25. ↑ Andreas Illmer (27 February 2010), Donation scandal surrounding German conservatives widens Deutsche Welle .
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