Michael Steiner (born 28 November 1949) is a German diplomat who served as head of the

United Nations Mission in Kosovo The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Привремена административна мисија Уједињених нација на Косову, Privremena administrativna misija Ujedinjenih na ...

(UNMIK). He was the German Ambassador to India from March 2012 to June 2015.

Early life and education

Michael Steiner was born on 28 November 1949 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Bavaria, Germany. Steiner studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and Munich from 1971 to 1977 and qualified as a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

in 1981.

Career

In 1981, Steiner entered the

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

. As a young political officer in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

in the summer of 1989, he won plaudits for his handling of a refugee crisis that helped lead to the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

. As hundreds of

East Germans East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

surrounded his embassy grounds, asking for asylum and

West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...

citizenship, he helped some of them over the wall himself, onto the embassy grounds, which were West German territory. Then he worked to negotiate a deal to allow the East Germans to leave the embassy and go to the West. During his career with the German government, Steiner served as head of the liaison office for German humanitarian aid in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, made his mark in the 1990s working with the so-called Contact Group of nations monitoring the

Yugoslav wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

(of which Germany was a member), and as head of the co-ordination unit for multilateral peace efforts. He also led the special section "International Peace Efforts in Yugoslavia" from 1994 to 1995. Steiner served nearly six months (January–July 1997) as principal deputy to

Carl Bildt Nils Daniel Carl Bildt (born 15 July 1949) is a Swedish politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994. He led the Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999, appearing as its lead candidate in four general elections, b ...

, the first

High Representative The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European U ...

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. In 1998, while serving as Germany's ambassador in Prague, he was plucked by Chancellor

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and Lobbying, lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (S ...

to work in the chancellor's office as his foreign and security policy adviser. And in 2001 he was forced to resign after the so-called "". In December 2001 he was appointed a head of the

United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Привремена административна мисија Уједињених нација на Косову, Privremena administrativna misija Ujedinjenih na ...

UN Secretary General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

. He was the third special representative of the secretary general for Kosovo since UNMIK was established in 1999. He followed

Hans Haekkerup Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...

of Denmark and

Bernard Kouchner Bernard Kouchner (born 1 November 1939) is a French politician and doctor. He is the co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Médecins du Monde. From 2007 until 2010, he was the French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in t ...

of France, and was replaced by Harri Hermani Holkeri of Finland on 8 July 2003. From April 2010 to March 2012, Steiner served as Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan for the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In March 2012 Steiner was pronounced new ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to India. On 20 July 2012, he hosted a festive ceremony at his residence in the honour of

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor :wikt:emeritus, emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father ...

to acknowledge his outstanding contribution in the field of classical music.

Personal life

Michael Steiner married Eliese Steiner, an art historian. They first met at the Colosseum in Italy.

Controversy

In early 2001, Steiner was criticized for apparently leaking information about sensitive talks between Chancellor

and US President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

. On 2 November 2001, he had a row with three German soldiers stationed in Moscow, when Schröder's plane was delayed for refuelling on the last day of a tour of Asia. Steiner allegedly called the soldiers "arseholes" and demanded that they served him caviar during the delay. Soon after news media reported about the incident, Steiner publicly apologized and resigned from his post.

''Lebe jetzt''

To celebrate his retirement as German Ambassador to India, the German Embassy released a video on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

named ''Lebe jetzt''.German Embassy India: Lebe jetzt - Kal Ho Naa Ho
/ref> The video was a homage to popular Hindi movie

Kal Ho Na Ho ''Kal Ho Naa Ho'' (, ), also abbreviated as ''KHNH'', is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy drama film directed by debutant Nikhil Advani from a script written by Karan Johar and Niranjan Iyengar, and produced by Yash Johar under ...

starring

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the "Padishah, Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has Shah Rukh K ...

. Steiner played the part of Khan, his wife Eliese played the part of

Preity Zinta Preity G. Zinta (pronounced ; born 31 January 1975) is an Indian actress primarily known for her work in Hindi films. After graduating with degrees in English honours and criminal psychology, Zinta made her acting debut in '' Dil Se..'' in 19 ...

whereas former Indian External Affairs Minister

Salman Khurshid Salman Khurshid Alam Khan (born 1 January 1953) is an Indian politician, designated senior advocate, author and law teacher. He was the Cabinet Minister of the Ministry of External Affairs. He is a member of the Indian National Congress who wa ...

played the part essayed by

Saif Ali Khan Saif Ali Khan (; born Sajid Ali Khan Pataudi; 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. The titular head of the Pataudi family since 2011, he is the son of actress Sharmila Tagore a ...

.Kal Ho Na Ho with Mr & Mrs German Ambassador & Mr Khurshid
The New Indian Express.

References

External links

Steiner appointed head of the UNMIK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steiner, Michael Living people Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd Class Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1949 births Ambassadors of Germany to Italy Ambassadors of Germany to India Ambassadors of Germany to the Czech Republic Special Representatives of the Secretary-General of the United Nations