Hans-Peter Friedrich (born 10 March 1957) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union (CSU) who has been serving as a member of the German

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...

since

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. Under the leadership of Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

, he served as Federal Minister of the Interior (2011-2013) and as Minister for Food and Agriculture (2013). Friedrich resigned from that position in February 2014. Friedrich has a controversial history with minorities in Germany, causing outrage in 2013 after telling journalists that Islam in Germany is not something supported by history at any point.

Early life and education

Born in 1957 in Naila, near the northern

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

n town of Hof, Friedrich has a PhD in law and also studied economics. From 1990 to 1991, Friedrich worked in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and the economy department of the Germany Embassy in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Erik Kirschbaum and Eric Kelsey (2 March 2011)
German ministers in cabinet reshuffle
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

''.

Political career

Early career

Friedrich began his national political career as an aide to

Michael Glos Michael Glos (born 14 December 1944) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union (CSU) who served as Minister for Economics and Technology in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 22 November 2005 until 10 February 2009. Ea ...

, a senior CSU official in parliament.Daryl Lindsey (2 March 2011)
Merkel Shuffles Cabinet: German Interior Minister to Replace Guttenberg
''

Spiegel Online ''Der Spiegel (online)'' is a German news website. Before the renaming in January 2020, the website's name was ''Spiegel Online'' (short ''SPON''). It was founded in 1994 as the online offshoot of the German news magazine, '' Der Spiegel'', w ...

''. Friedrich has been a member of the Bundestag since the 1998 federal elections,. He was deputy chairman of the investigating committee for party donations from 1999 until 2002 and for electoral fraud from 2002 until 2004. From 2002 until 2005 he was also judicial counselor of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. Following the 2005 federal elections, when his party joined a '' Grand Coalition'' with

as Chancellor, Friedrich became deputy chairman of the parliamentary group under the leadership of

Volker Kauder Volker Kauder (born 3 September 1949) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as parliamentary group leader of the ruling CDU/CSU faction in the German ''Bundestag'' from 2005 to 2018, during which h ...

, covering the portfolio of housing and development. Between 2007 and 2009, he was one of 32 members of the Second Commission on the modernization of the federal state, which had been established to reform the division of powers between federal and state authorities in Germany. In the negotiations to form a coalition government following the 2009 federal elections, Friedrich led the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on transport and building policies; his co-chair from the FDP was

Patrick Döring Patrick Döring (born 6 May 1973 in Stade, Lower Saxony) is a German politician and member of the FDP in the Bundestag from 2005 to 2013. Other activities * Commerzbank, Member of the Regional Advisory Board for Northern Germany

. From 2009, Friedrich led the CSU in parliament, replacing Peter Ramsauer. During that time, he was said to have enjoyed a good relationship with Merkel and to have often sided with national interests over Bavarian ones. Economic policy was widely seen as his passion as he has supported raising the retirement age to 67 despite opposition from CSU leader

Horst Seehofer Horst Lorenz Seehofer (born 4 July 1949) is a German politician who served as Minister of the Interior, Building and Community under Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), he served as the 18 ...

. He also played a behind-the-scenes part in crafting Germany's response to the euro zone crisis.

Federal Minister of the Interior, 2011-2013

On 3 March 2011 Friedrich succeeded Thomas de Maizière as Federal Minister of the Interior who replaced

Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg Karl-Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Buhl-Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg (born 5 December 1971), known professionally as Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, is a German businessman and politician of the Christian Soc ...

. The fact that Friedrich, like Guttenberg, came from the northern Bavarian area of

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (german: Oberfranken) is a ''Regierungsbezirk'' (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle F ...

meant that his appointment ensured the regional balance of power within the CSU was maintained. On the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the

diplomatic relations Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

between German and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, Friedrich participated in the first joint cabinet meeting of the two countries’ governments in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

in May 2011. On 7 June 2011 he attended the

state dinner A state banquet is an official banquet hosted by the head of state in his or her official residence for another head of state, or sometimes head of government, and other guests. Usually as part of a state visit or diplomatic conference, it is h ...

hosted by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

in honor of Chancellor

at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

. European integration In early 2012, Friedrich became Chancellor

’s first Cabinet member to suggest

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

’s exit from the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

. In an interview with '' Der Spiegel'', he said Greece would have better chances of overhauling its economy and restoring growth if it left the euro area. In late 2012, Friedrich called for the immediate suspension of the visa-free regime for

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

and Macedonia after more than 7,000 citizens of the two countries applied for asylum in Germany within one year. Surveillance In the wake of the US

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collect ...

's (NSA) internet surveillance scandal around

PRISM Prism usually refers to: * Prism (optics), a transparent optical component with flat surfaces that refract light * Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron Prism may also refer to: Science and mathematics * Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary ...

in 2013, Friedrich was long perceived as not particularly devoted to investigating the full scope of NSA spying activities in Germany. Instead, he defended the NSA's methods and promptly demanded legislation changes, in order to be able to expand surveillance of communication traffic by the German

Bundesnachrichtendienst The Federal Intelligence Service (German: ; , BND) is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Chancellor's Office. The BND headquarters is located in central Berlin and is the world's largest intelligence head ...

as well. In an effort to point out how valuable information provided by the NSA can be for Germany, he argued that forty-five terror attacks had been prevented by the Prism program, including five in Germany; however, he soon back-peddled, unable to pinpoint the five instances. In a later interview with ''

Münchner Merkur The ''Münchner Merkur'' (, literally "Munich Mercurius", i.e. the Roman god of messengers) is a German Bavarian daily subscription newspaper, which is published from Monday to Saturday. It is located in Munich and belongs to the Müncher Merkur ...

'' newspaper, Friedrich held that Edward Snowden was not a victim of political persecution.

Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, 2013

In the negotiations to form a so-called Grand Coalition following the 2013 federal elections, Friedrich led the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on internal affairs and justice; his co-chair from the SPD was

Thomas Oppermann Thomas Ludwig Albert Oppermann (27 April 195425 October 2020) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). From October 2017 until his death he served as Vice President of the Bundestag. In his earlier career, he serv ...

. Friedrich was sworn in as Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture in the third cabinet of Federal Chancellor

on 17 December 2013. He resigned on 14 February 2014, reacting to imminent legal investigations into incidents during his tenure as Federal Minister of the Interior. He is accused of betraying state secrets about legal investigations into Social Democrat Party (SPD) heads during the coalition negotiations after the federal elections in 2013. Prosecutors complained that the leak may have compromised their inquiry. The investigations showed MP

Sebastian Edathy Sebastian Edathy (; born 5 September 1969 as ''Sebastian Edathiparambil'') is a former German politician. He is a prominent member of the Social Democratic Party and became the chairman of a key committee in January 2012 at the Parliament, whi ...

's link to a globally-operating child pornography syndicate, and plans to take up an investigation against Edathy on suspicion of possessing such material.

Vice-President of the German Bundestag, 2017–2021

Following the

2017 elections The following elections occurred in 2017. Africa *2017 Somali presidential election 8 February 2017 *2017 Gambian parliamentary election 6 April 2017 * 2017 Algerian legislative election 4 May 2017 *2017 Lesotho general election 3 June 2017 *20 ...

, Friedrich was elected as one of the

vice presidents A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

of the

German Parliament The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...

, under the leadership of President

Wolfgang Schäuble Wolfgang Schäuble (; born 18 September 1942) is a German lawyer, politician and statesman whose political career has spanned for more than five decades. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he is one of the longest-serving politi ...

. In this capacity, he also joined the parliament's Council of Elders, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigns committee chairpersons based on party representation. In 2020, Friedrich co-founded the “China-Bridge” initiative, a non-profit networking association to strengthen links between Germany and China.

Other activities

Corporate boards

* Friedrich-Baur-GmbH, Member of the Advisory Board * Münchener Verein, Member of the Supervisory Board

Non-profit organizations

* German Association for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (BVMW), Member of the Political Advisory Board *

Atlantik-Brücke Atlantik-Brücke (, ''Atlantic Bridge'') is a leading private non-profit association to promote German-American understanding and Atlanticism. Founded in Hamburg in 1952, it was located in Bonn between 1983 and 1999 and is now located in Berli ...

, Member *

German Council on Foreign Relations The German Council on Foreign Relations (german: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e. V. (DGAP)) is Germany's national foreign policy network and policy research institute. As an independent, private, non-partisan and non-profit orga ...

(DGAP), Member * Foundation for Family Businesses, Member of the Board of Trustees * German-Hungarian Youth Office, Member of the Board of Trustees * Ostbayerisches Technologie-Transfer-Institut (OTTI), Member of the Advisory Board * Stiftung Datenschutz, Member of the Strategic Advisory Board * Rotary International, Member

Personal life

Friedrich is married with three children.Hans-Peter Friedrich: A conservative minister's slow decline
'' Deutsche Welle'', 14 February 2014.

References