Christian Schmidt (politician)

Christian Schmidt, 2009

Christian Schmidt (* 26th August 1957 in Obernzenn) is a German politician and member of the centre-right [[Christian Social Union of Bavaria|Christian Socialist Union (CSU)]. Since 2005 he has served as Parliamentary State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry of Defence.

Education and Career

Christian Schmidt attended the Georg-Willhem-Steller-Gynasium in Bad Windheim where he completed his Abitur in 1976. He then undertook mandatory military service in the mountain division of the West German Army. He began legal studies in 1977 in Erlangen and Lausanne. Schmidt finished his legal studies with the successful completion of the required state examinations in 1982 and 1985. He was admitted to the bar in 1985 and practiced law until the assumption of his duties as Parliamentary State Secretary in November 2005.

Party Involvement

Christian Schmidt, 2009

As a student Schmidt joined the Jungen Union (JU), the CSU youth group, in 1973. In 1976 he registered as a member of the CSU. From 1980-1982 he was chairman of the JU-District Association in Neustadt-an-der-Aisch. In 1982 he was named Chair of the JU-Regional Association for Central Franconia, a position that he held until 1991. From 1989 to 1993 Schmidt was also a member of the CSU-State Committee, a post that he took up again in 1999. Since 1999, in addition to his duties on the CSU-State Committee, Schmidt has been Chairman of the CSU-District Association in Fuerth.

Schmidt is the Chair of the CSU Regional Working Group on Foreign, Security and European Policy. Since May 2010 he has also served as Chair of the Regional Evangelical Working Group of the CSU. In May 2011 he was named Chair of the Federal Evangelical Working Group of the CSU/CDU.

Since 2008 Schmidt as been Deputy Chairman of the CSU.

In his capacity as Deputy CSU Chairman he serves as chief spokesman for the CSU on foreign and security policy, as well as on European politics. He is also responsible for the relationship of the CSU with other parties that are member of the European People’s Party caucus (Christian Democrats) at the European Union level. He manages CSU international outreach to Israel, Croatia, Austria, the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Public Service Career

From 1984 to 1990 Christian Schmidt was a town councillor in his hometown of Obernzenn and member of the District Council for Neustadt-an-der-Aisch + Bad Windsheim.

Schmidt was elected to the German Parliament, the Bundestag, in 1990. From 1991 to 2002 he was Chair of the national level CSU Working Group for Foreign, Defence and European policy. He then went on to serve as Chair of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Defence Working Group. In this capacity he also served as the CDU/CSU spokesman for defence policy.

Schmidt served as Chair of the German-Israeli Parliamentary Group from 1994-1998 and as Chair for the German-British Parliamentary Group from 1998-2005. He has also been a member of the German-Baltic, German-Croatian, and German-Czech Parliamentary Groups. He was the Parliamentary Rapporteur for the German-Polish “Good Neighbour” Treaty in 1991, as well as the 1992 German-Czechoslovakia Treaty. In 1997 the Federal Minister of Defence selected Schmidt to serve on the Advisory Committee of the German-Czech Discussion Forum.

He was rapporteur for the discussions pertaining to the Parliamentary Participation Act of 2005 dealing with the deployment of the German Bundeswehr within the Federal Republic.

Christian Schmidt entered the German Parlament as a directly elected candidate. In the 2009 Federal Election he won 43.3% of the First Votes. In December 2012 he was nominated for the seventh time as the CSU candidate for the upcoming Federal Parliamentary Elections in 2013. The CSU-Assembly of Delegates awarded him 98.7% of the vote (155 of 157 votes).

Service as State Secretary

Christian Schmidt im Bundestag

Schmidt was named Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Defence by Chancellor Angela Merkel on 23 November 2005. In this capacity he has served as parliamentary and political representative for three Ministers of the Defence; Franz Josef Jung, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and Thomas de Maiziere. During his time in office Schmidt advanced the establishment of a foundation to care for service members negatively impacted by the side effects of radar signals encountered during their service. His time in office has seen several landmark events including the investigation into the wartime activities of WWII German flying ace Werner Mölders (2007), the reorientation of the Federal Republic’s armed forces (since 2010) and the resignation of Defence Minister zu Guttenberg in the wake of a plagiarism scandal (2011). Schmidt had defended zu Guttenberg against the accusations of plagiary.

Following the resignation of Minister zu Guttenberg in 2011 Schmidt remained in office and was re-confirmed to the post by the new Minister for Defense, Thomas de Maiziere.

Christian Schmidt played an instrumental role in the establishment and financing of the “Hardship Fund” (Härtefall-Stiftung). This fund, maintained by the Soldiers’ Relief Association e.V., was founded in 2012 with the express remit of supporting soldiers seriously injured in the line of duty. The fund provides support above and beyond the standard duty of care laws in the Federal Republic, thereby serving as additional assistance for those veterans most in need.

Awards

• 2004 Commander of the Order of Three Stars for the Republic of Latvia
• 2005 Commander for the Order of Merit for the Republic of Lithuania
• 2005 Cross of the Order of Merit for the Federal Republic of Germany
• 2007 Bavarian Distinguished Service Award
• 2012 Honourable Accolade of the First Degree for National Defence, Hungary

Memberships

Christian Schmidt is the President of the German Atlantic Society as well as a member of the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation. He sits on the board of the Coordination Council for German-Czech Dialogue.

He is a member of the Supervisory Board of the Centre for International Peace Operations (ZIF) and he sits on the councils of the Foundation for the Examination of the Dictatorship in East Germany and the German Foundation for Peace Research. He is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Society for Defence and Security Policy e.V. Advisory Board of the American Jewish Committee e.V. Schmidt is an honorary member of the Board of Help for Self-Help e.V.

He is also a member of the Comrades Association of Alpine Troops in Munich.