Ruprecht Polenz (born 26 May 1946) is a German politician and member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) political party.

Political career

In the 1994 national elections, Polenz was first voted into the German federal Parliament, the

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 ...

. Throughout his time in parliament, he served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs Polenz became senior member of the CDU party on 10 April 2000 under the leadership of the party's chairwoman

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 was the party's secretary-general from April to November 2000. Polenz served as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs between 2005 and 2013. He was also a member of the German delegation to the

NATO Parliamentary Assembly Founded in 1955, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Alliance. Its current President is Gerald E. Connolly from the United States, elected in 2019. Its curre ...

and a substitute member of the Committee on Cultural and Media Affairs. Additionally, he chaired the Bundestag's Parliamentary Control Panel under Section 41 (5) of the Foreign Trade and Payments Act and was a substitute member of the Joint Committee of the Bundestag and Bundesrat under Article 53 a of the Basic Law.

Life after politics

Following his retirement from active politics, Polenz became president of the German Association for East European Studies (DGO). Between 2013 and 2014, he was a Senior Fellow at the Istanbul Policy Center of

Sabancı University Sabancı University ( tr, Sabancı Üniversitesi), established in 1994, is a young foundation university located on a 1.26 million squaremeter campus which is about 40 km from Istanbul's city center. Its first students matriculated in 1999. ...

. In November 2015, Foreign Minister

Frank-Walter Steinmeier Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician serving as President of Germany since 19 March 2017. He was previously Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017, as well as Vice Chan ...

named Polenz Special Envoy for the German-Namibian talks on a joint declaration addressing the colonial-era crackdown against Hereros in Namibia. Polenz has stated that he would consider the killings

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...

Political positions

In 2008, Polenz and four other legislators issued a committee report which concluded that Germany's under-representation in international organizations at the time was because the country lacked a personnel policy and coherent strategy for promoting itself internationally. Contrary to his own party, Polenz has been one of Germany's most outspoken proponents of an

accession of Turkey to the European Union Turkey is negotiating its accession to the European Union (EU) as a member state, following its application to become a full member of the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the EU, on 14 April 1987. After the ten founding ...

. In 2011, Polenz was among the first to speak out publicly against the decision of Quadriga, a German nonprofit group, to honor

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

; the group later canceled its annual prize ceremony following further public criticism of Putin's stance on democracy and human rights in Russia. Ahead of the Christian Democrats’

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...

in 2018, Polenz publicly endorsed

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (; Kramp; born 9 August 1962), sometimes referred to by her initials of AKK, is a retired German politician who served as Minister of Defence from 2019 to 2021 and as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from ...

to succeed Angela Merkel as the party's chair. In a well-received, open letter, Polenz turned to Rezo after his video " The destruction of the CDU". The politician largely agreed with the Youtuber's positions on climate protection and the CDU's dealings with young voters, particularly with regard to the Friday for future demonstrators. He has repeatedly described the AfD as right-wing, right-wing extremist and fascist.

Other activities (selection)

Corporate boards

* ZDF Enterprises, member of the supervisory board

Non-profit organizations

* Aktion Deutschland Hilft (Germany's Relief Coalition), deputy chairman of the board of trustees * Association of German Foundations, member of the Parliamentary Advisory Board * Center for Global Politics (CGP),

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

, member of the advisory board * Christian-Muslim Society, member of the board of trustees * Deutsche Initiative für den Nahen Osten (DINO), member of the board of trustees *

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decisi ...

(ECFR), Member *

Fachhochschule Münster A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...

, member of the board of trustees * German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), member of the board of trustees * Green Helmets, member of the board of trustees *

Konrad Adenauer Foundation The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (german: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, KAS) is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's headquarters are located in Sank ...

(KAS), Member * , Member * Schengen White List Project, member of the advisory board * Willy Brandt Foundation, Alternate Member of the board of trustees * Zentrum Liberale Moderne, member of the international advisory board (since 2017)International Advisory Board
Zentrum Liberale Moderne. *

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

, chairman of the Television Board (2002–2016) * Deutsches Orient-Institut, member of the board of trustees (1998–2005) * German Atlantic Association (DAG), president (1997–2006) * Marshall Memorial Fellowship (MMF) of the

German Marshall Fund The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a nonpartisan American public policy think tank that seeks to promote cooperation and understanding between North America and the European Union. Founded in 1972 through a gift from the We ...

(GMF), member of the Selection Committee (1998–2002) * Westfälische Herzstiftung, member of the board of trustees (2002–2005)

Personal life

Polenz is married and has four children.

References

External link

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Polenz, Ruprecht 1956 births Living people People from Bautzen (district) Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 Members of the Bundestag 1998–2002 Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998 Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany