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Boris Pistorius

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Boris Pistorius
MdL
Pistorius in 2019
Minister of Defence
Assumed office
19 January 2023
ChancellorOlaf Scholz
Preceded byChristine Lambrecht
Minister for Interior and Sports
of Lower Saxony
In office
19 February 2013 – 18 January 2023
Minister-President
Preceded byUwe Schünemann
Succeeded byDaniela Behrens (interim)
Lord Mayor of Osnabrück
In office
7 November 2006 – 19 February 2013
Preceded byHans-Jürgen Fip
Succeeded byWolfgang Griesert
Parliamentary constituencies
Member of the
Landtag of Lower Saxony
for Osnabrück-West
Assumed office
14 November 2017
Preceded byBurkhard Jasper
Personal details
Born
Boris Ludwig Pistorius

(1960-03-14) 14 March 1960 (age 64)
Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, West Germany (now Germany)
Political partySocial Democratic Party
Spouse
Sabine Pistorius
​
(died 2015)​
Domestic partnerDoris Schröder-Köpf[1] (2016–2022)
Children2
Alma mater
Occupation
  • Politician
  • Civil Servant
  • Lawyer
  • Foreign Trade Clerk
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website
Military service
Allegiance Germany
Branch/service Bundeswehr
Years of service1980–1981
Unit German Army (Heer) /
Flugabwehrregiment 11

Boris Pistorius (German pronunciation: [ˈbɔʁɪs pɪsˈtoːʁiʊs];[2] born 14 March 1960) is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as the German Federal Minister of Defence since January 19, 2023 in the Scholz cabinet. He had previously been State Minister for Interior and Sports in the state government of Lower Saxony since 2013.[3] He has been a part of the State Parliament of Lower Saxony since 14 November 2017.[4]

Early life and education

Pistorius was born in Osnabrück, the son of Ursula Pistorius (née Raabe) and Ludwig Pistorius.[5] Ursula was a member of the Landtag of Lower Saxony from 1978 to 1990.[6]

After taking his abitur at the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Gymnasium[7] in Osnabrück, he has been conscripted to military service in the Bundeswehr in 1980[8] before taking up law studies at the University of Münster and Osnabrück University, and also, for a brief period, at the Catholic University of the West.[9]

Early career

Pistorius worked as the personal advisor to State Minister for Interior of Lower Saxony Gerhard Glogowski in government led by Minister-President Gerhard Schröder from 1991 to 1995, and was the deputy head of his office from 1995 to 1996.[9]

Political career

Career in local politics

Pistorius joined the SPD in 1976.[10]

Pistorius was part of the city council from 1996 until 2013 and from 1999 to 2002 he served as second mayor of Osnabrück.[11]

Pistorius served as Mayor of Osnabrück[12] starting his mayoral term on 7 November 2006 winning with 55.5% against Wolfgang Griesert[13] who would later go on to become the Mayor after Pistorius's resignation due to his position at the Lower Saxony government in 2013.[14]

State Minister of the Interior, 2013–2022

After the Lower Saxony state elections in 2013, Pistorius was sworn in as State Minister of the Interior and Sports at the constituent session of the 17th State Parliament of Lower Saxony on 19 February 2013.

From 2013 to 2017, Pistorius was one of the state's representatives on the German Bundesrat; from 2017, he was an alternate member.[15] In this capacity, he was a member of the German-Russian Friendship Group set up in cooperation with the Russian Federation Council. He was also an alternate member of the German delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly since 2022, where he was part of the Political Committee, its Sub-Committee on NATO Partnerships and its Sub-Committee on Transatlantic Relations.[16]

During his time in office in state government, Pistorius was widely seen as standing out in his state for his tough stance[17] on Islamist radicalism, terror threats, organized crime and far-right extremism.[18]

Role in national politics

Main article: 2019 Social Democratic Party of Germany leadership election

In the negotiations to form a fourth coalition government under Chancellor Angela Merkel's leadership following the 2017 federal elections, Pistorius was part of the working group on internal and legal affairs, led by Thomas de Maizière, Stephan Mayer and Heiko Maas.

In the 2019 SPD leadership election, Pistorius was a candidate for the position as the party's co-chair, together with Saxony State Minister Petra Köpping.[19][20] Köpping and Pistorius came in fifth place, receiving only 14.41% of the vote.

In the negotiations to form a so-called traffic light coalition of the SPD, the Green Party and the Free Democrats (FDP) following the 2021 German elections, Pistorius led his party's delegation in the working group on migration and integration; the co-chairs from the other parties were Luise Amtsberg and Joachim Stamp.[21]

Federal Minister of Defence, 2023–present

On 17 January 2023, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Pistorius would succeed Christine Lambrecht, who resigned on 16 January after numerous scandals, as Minister of Defence in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's cabinet.[22] This came as a surprise to many political observers, with SPD co-leader Lars Klingbeil and Bundestag Armed Forces Commissioner Eva Högl being floated most often as replacements.[23][24] The appointment was criticized,[25] as it would mean breaking the gender parity Scholz had promised upon the cabinet's formation.[26]

Pistorius took the oath of office at the Bundestag on 19 January 2023.

Political positions

In 2021, Pistorius demanded that Germany order the messaging program Telegram removed from Apple Inc.’s and Google’s app stores if it continues to ignore requests to help track down extremist content.[27]

Amid the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pistorius clearly condemned what he has called Russia’s “brutal attacks” on Ukraine.[28] In May 2022, he said Russian sympathizers must not glorify the war on German streets.[29]

Personal life

Pistorius has two daughters with his wife Sabine who died in 2015 due to cancer.[30] He was in a relationship with Doris Schröder-Köpf from 2016 until spring 2022.[31]

Awards and Honours

Other activities

Corporate boards

Non-profit organizations

  • Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Member of the Political Advisory Board (since 2020)[36]
  • Robert Enke Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2017)[37]
  • Aloys & Brigitte Coppenrath Foundation, Member of the Board[38]

References

  1. ^ "Schröder-Köpf und Minister Pistorius sind ein Paar" (in German). Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ https://youtube.com/8GTeE59t93Q?t=30
  3. ^ "Innenminister Boris Pistorius". Niedersachsen (in German). Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Boris Pistorius". Landtag Niedersachsen (in German). Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  5. ^ "Traueranzeigen von Ludwig Pistorius". Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  6. ^ Schmidt, Ulrike. "Zum Tod der Osnabrücker Politikerin Ursula Pistorius" (in German). Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  7. ^ "Minister Pistorius diskutiert mit Osnabrücker Schülern" (in German). Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  8. ^ Holger Hansen (17 January 2023), Germany names new defence minister, faces pressure to send tanks to Ukraine Reuters.
  9. ^ a b "Lebenslauf". Boris Pistorius (in German). Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Boris Pistorius". SPD-Landtagsfraktion Niedersachsen (in German). Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Innenminister Boris Pistorius Lebenslauf". Niedersachsen (in German). Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Die ehemaligen Oberbürgermeister der Stadt Osnabrück". Osnabrück (in German). Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  13. ^ "Vorläufiges Ergebnis der Stichwahl zur Direktwahl der Oberbürgermeisterin / des Oberbürgermeisters in der Stadt Osnabrück". Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Statistik (in German). Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  14. ^ Remmers, Bernhard. "Osnabrück sucht den OB-Kandidaten" (in German). Hannoversche Allgemeine. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  15. ^ "Boris Pistorius". Bundesrat (in German). Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  16. ^ Boris Pistorius NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
  17. ^ Holger Hansen (17 January 2023), Germany names new defence minister, faces pressure to send tanks to Ukraine Reuters.
  18. ^ Bojan Pancevski (17 January 2023), Little-Known Politician to Become German Defense Minister Amid Mounting Challenges Wall Street Journal.
  19. ^ Christoph Hickmann, Veit Medick and Christian Teevs (29 August 2019), SPD-Kandidatenduo: Köpping und Pistorius bringen Steuersenkungen ins Spiel Der Spiegel.
  20. ^ Madeline Chambers (23 October 2019), Aspiring leaders of Germany's Social Democrats Reuters.
  21. ^ Lakämper, Britt-Marie. "SPD, Grüne, FDP: Diese Politiker verhandeln die Ampel" (in German). Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  22. ^ Connolly, Kate (17 January 2023). "Germany's no-nonsense new defence minister faces early test over Ukraine". Guardian News & Media Limited.
  23. ^ https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/Wer-folgt-auf-Lambrecht-Vier-Niedersachsen-hoch-gehandelt,verteidigungsministerium110.html
  24. ^ https://www.wp.de/politik/lambrecht-ruecktritt-verteidigungsministerium-nachfolger-kandidaten-spd-id237367801.html
  25. ^ https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/pistorius-verteidigungsminister-frauen-kabinett-kritik-100.html
  26. ^ https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/paritaet-proporz-kabinett-scholz-100.html
  27. ^ Thomas Escritt (14 December 2021), Politician says Germany should ban Telegram unless it tackles extremist content Reuters, 15 December 2021.
  28. ^ Holger Hansen (17 January 2023), Germany names new defence minister, faces pressure to send tanks to Ukraine Reuters.
  29. ^ Holger Hansen (17 January 2023), Germany names new defence minister, faces pressure to send tanks to Ukraine Reuters.
  30. ^ "Innenminister Pistorius trauert um seine Frau" (in German). Bild. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  31. ^ "Trennung von Boris Pistorius: Doris Schröder-Köpf ist wieder Single". n-tv.de (in German). 9 June 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  32. ^ "ENTIDADES ESTRANGEIRAS AGRACIADAS COM ORDENS PORTUGUESAS - Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas". Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  33. ^ "Innenminister Pistorius mit Schlesierschild beim Deutschlandtreffen der Schlesier 2019 in Hannover ausgezeichnet". Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Inneres und Sport. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  34. ^ Oberbürgermeister bilden Führungsspitze: Osnabrücker Oberbürgermeister Boris Pistorius zum stellvertretenden Vorsitzenden des Aufsichtsrates gewählt Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, 24 March 2011.
  35. ^ Board Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung.
  36. ^ Bernd Westphal und Anke Rehlinger koordinieren neu konstituierten Politischen Beirat des SPD-Wirtschaftsforums Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, press release of 1 July 2020.
  37. ^ Board of Trustees Robert Enke Foundation.
  38. ^ Board Aloys & Brigitte Coppenrath Foundation.
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