Armin Laschet - German politician, chairman of the Christian Democratic Union since January 16, 2024, Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia (since 2017).
Place of Birth. Education. Born February 18, 1961 in Aachen, land of North Rhine-Westphalia in a German-speaking family of Walloon-Belgian origin, Catholic. My father was first a miner, after retraining he worked as the director of an elementary school.
In 1981 he graduated from high school in his hometown of Aachen and began studying law at the universities of Munich and Bonn.
Career. In 1979 he joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
In 1986, he began his career as a journalist, working as a Bonn correspondent for the news editorial office of the Bavarian television Bayerisches Fernsehen.
In 1987, Laschet passed the first state law exam. Four years later, he became editor-in-chief of the newspaper KirchenZeitung Aachen, from 1995 to 1999 he was in charge of the publishing house Einhard-Verlag.
From 1988 to 1993 he was scientific adviser to the President of the Bundestag, Rita Süssmuth.
In 1989 - 2004 he was a member of the city council of Aachen, in 1991 he became deputy chairman of the Aachen organization of the CDU.
From 1994 to 1998 - Member of the Bundestag from the first constituency of Aachen.
From 1999 to 2005 - Member of the European Parliament.
In 2001, he headed the Aachen organization of the CDU.
From 2005 to 2010 - Minister of Generations, Family, Women and Integration of North Rhine-Westphalia.
In 2008, he joined the national board of the CDU.
Since 2010, he has been a member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.
From 2010 to 2012 - Deputy Chairman of the CDU land organization in North Rhine-Westphalia, since 2012 - Chairman. Since 2013 - chairman of the CDU faction in the Landtag.
Since December 5, 2012 - Deputy Chairman of the CDU.
In May 2017, the CDU won the land elections in North Rhine-Westphalia with 34.5% of the vote against 30.5% for the SPD.
On June 27, 2017, Laschet took office as Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia.
On January 16, 2024, at the congress, he was elected chairman of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany.
Sights. When Russia occupied Crimea, Laschet stood up for the Russian president, calling criticism of him "anti-Putin populism." He also said that even if "Russia's policy on Crimea is clearly contrary to international law," you need to put yourself in the place of the interlocutor, probably in order to understand his motives.
He also called for abandoning the "demonization of Russia", doubted the version of the British intelligence services about the poisoning of the Skripals by Russian spies, and opposes the termination of the construction of Nord Stream - 2. He is a frequent guest of the Russian-German forum "Petersburg Dialogue", is an opponent of anti-Russian sanctions.
Family. Married. He met his future wife at school and got married in 1985. They have three adult children, two sons and a daughter.
02/05/2021