Michael Kretschmer (born 7 May 1975) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as Minister President of Saxony since December 2017.[1] Since 2022, he has been one of four deputy chairs of the CDU, under the leadership of chairman Friedrich Merz.[2]
Michael Kretschmer | |||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Kretschmer in 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy Leader of the Christian Democratic Union | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 22 January 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | Friedrich Merz | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Volker Bouffier | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister-President of Saxony | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 13 December 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Martin Dulig Wolfram Günther | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Stanislaw Tillich | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of the Christian Democratic Union of Saxony | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 9 December 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| General Secretary | Alexander Dierks | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Barbara Klepsch Christian Hartmann Thomas Schmidt | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Stanislaw Tillich | ||||||||||||||||||||
| General Secretary of the Christian Democratic Union of Saxony | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 1 December 2004 – 9 December 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | Georg Milbradt Stanislaw Tillich | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Hermann Winkler | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Alexander Dierks | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Michael Kretschmer 7 May 1975 Görlitz, Bezirk Dresden, East Germany (now Germany) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Christian Democratic Union (1989–) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Annett Hoffmann (m. 2020) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence(s) | Dresden-Klotzsche Waltersdorf | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | michaelkretschmer | ||||||||||||||||||||
Political career
Member of Parliament, 2002–2017
From 2002 to 2017 Kretschmer was a member of the Bundestag as directly elected representative for Görlitz. He first served on the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment. In the negotiations to form a coalition government under Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2009 federal elections, he was a member of the working group on economic affairs and energy, led by Annette Schavan and Andreas Pinkwart.[3]
From 2009 to 2017 Kretschmer was one of the vice chairs of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, under the leadership of chairman Volker Kauder.[4] During his time in parliament, he was also of the German-Russian Parliamentary Friendship Group and the German-Polish Parliamentary Friendship Group.
In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the SPD following the 2013 federal elections, Kretschmer led the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on cultural and media affairs; his counterpart of the SPD was Klaus Wowereit. Over the following years, he co-chaired the CDU's national conventions in Karlsruhe (2015),[5] Essen (2016)[6] and Berlin (2018).[7]
Kretschmer lost reelection in 2017 to Tino Chrupalla of the AfD.[8][9]
Minister-President of Saxony, 2017–present
On 18 October 2017, Stanislaw Tillich announced his resignation as Minister President of Saxony and suggested that Kretschmer should replace him.[10] He is only the fourth and also the youngest person to hold that office.[8]
As one of Saxony's representatives at the Bundesrat, Kretschmer has been serving as member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs since 2017. In addition, he is a member of the German-Russian Friendship Group set up in cooperation with Russia's Federation Council.
In the negotiations to form a fourth cabinet under Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Kretschmer co-chaired the working group on transport and infrastructure, alongside Alexander Dobrindt and Sören Bartol.
In December 2021, ZDF journalists discovered a plot by anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown extremists to assassinate Kretschmer, which led to an investigation by Saxon police and searchings for weapons through several houses in Dresden.[11][12]
Since 2022, Kretschmer, alongside Karl-Josef Laumann, has been chairing a working group in charge of drafting policies on social security for the CDU's new party platform.[13]
Other activities
- Association of German Foundations, member of the Parliamentary Advisory Board
- Development and Peace Foundation (SEF), deputy chairman of the board of trustees[14]
- Deutsches Museum, Member of the Board of Trustees[15]
- Dresden Frauenkirche, ex officio member of the board of trustees[16]
- Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, member of the senate
- Max Planck Society, Member of the Senate[17]
- Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Member of the Board of Trustees[18]
- Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Member of the Board of Trustees[19]
- Senckenberg Nature Research Society, Member of the Board of Trustees[20]
- Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst, member of the board of trustees (2009–2013)
- Federal Agency for Civic Education, member of the board of trustees (2002–2005)
Political positions
In June 2017, Kretschmer voted against Germany's introduction of same-sex marriage.[21]
While visiting the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2019, Kretschmer met with President Vladimir Putin and later called for the lifting of EU economic sanctions against Russia.[22] This was immediately rejected by CDU chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.[23]
He was opposed to restrictions during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and even attended an anti-lockdown demonstration, but changed his mind and apologised in December 2020. In November 2021 he disagreed with Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn on ending the nationwide state of emergency.[12]
Controversy
During his tenure as secretary general of the CDU in Saxony, Kretschmer faced criticism after reports surfaced in 2010 that personal meetings with party chairman and Minister-President Stanislaw Tillich were offered to potential corporate sponsors in exchange for donations.[24]
References
External links
