Dietmar Heinrich Nietan (born 25 May 1964) is a German politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD) who served as a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

from the state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

from 1998 to 2002 and again from 2005 to 2025. In addition to his parliamentary work, Nietan served as Coordinator of German-Polish Intersocietal and Cross-Border Cooperation at the

Federal Foreign Office The Federal Foreign Office (, ; abbreviated AA) is the Foreign minister, foreign ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, a federal agency (Germany), federal agency responsible for both the country's foreign policy and its relationship with ...

in the

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Olaf Scholz Olaf Scholz (; born 14 June 1958) is a German politician who served as the Chancellor of Germany from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice-Chancellor of Ge ...

from 2022 to 2025. In 2014, Nietan became the SPD's

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

, making him part of the party's national leadership under current co-chairs

Saskia Esken Saskia Christina Esken (' Hofer; born 28 August 1961) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as co-leader of the party since being 2019 Social Democratic Party of Ger ...

and

Lars Klingbeil Lars Klingbeil (; born 23 February 1978) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) serving as the Vice Chancellor of Germany and Federal Minister of Finance since 6 May 2025. He has served as the SPD's Co-Leader since 2021, to ...

Political career

Nietan became a member of the Bundestag for the second time in the

2017 German federal election The 2017 German federal election was held in Germany on 24 September 2017 to elect the List of members of the 19th Bundestag, members of the 19th Bundestag. At stake were at least 598 seats in the Bundestag, as well as 111 Overhang seat, overhan ...

. He was a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs; in this capacity, he served as his parliamentary group's

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

on the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

's Common Foreign and Security Policy and relations to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. He also served on the Committee on European Affairs from 1998 until 2005 and from 2009 until 2013. In addition to his committee assignments, Nietan was part of the German-Polish Parliamentary Friendship Group. From 2005 until 2009, he chaired the German Parliamentary Friendship Group with

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. Within the SPD parliamentary group, Nietan belonged to the Parliamentary Left, a left-wing movement. In the negotiations to form a coalition government under the leadership of

Angela Merkel following the 2017 German federal election, 2017 federal elections, Nietan was part of the working group on energy, climate protection and the environment, led by Armin Laschet, Georg Nüßlein and Barbara Hendricks (politician), Barbara Hendricks. In the negotiations to form a so-called traffic light coalition of the SPD, the Alliance 90/The Greens, Green Party and the Free Democratic Party (Germany), Free Democratic Party (FDP) following the 2021 German federal election, 2021 federal elections, Nietan was part of his party's delegation in the working group on foreign policy, defence, development cooperation and human rights, co-chaired by Heiko Maas, Omid Nouripour and Alexander Graf Lambsdorff. In April 2024, Nietan announced that he would not stand in the 2025 German federal election, 2025 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.

Other activities

Corporate boards

* Deutsche Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft (ddvg), Member of the Supervisory Board

Non-profit organizations

* European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Member (since 2020) * German Poland Institute (DPI), Member of the Board of Trustees * German-Polish Science Foundation (DPWS), Member of the Board of Trustees * Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future", Member of the Board of Trustees * Gustav Heinemann Civic Award, Member of the Board of TrusteesGustav Heinemann Civic Award
Social Democratic Party of Germany. * Education and Science Workers' Union (Germany), Education and Science Workers' Union (GEW), Member * Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland, German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND), Member

References

External links

*
Bundestag biography
1964 births Living people Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 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 for the Social Democratic Party of Germany {{Germany-SPD-politician-stub