Armin Schuster

Armin Schuster (born 20 May 1961) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as the president of the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) since 2020.[2]

Armin Schuster
Member of the Bundestag
In office
2009 – 2020
Succeeded byChristian Natterer[1]
Personal details
Born (1961-05-20) 20 May 1961
Andernach, West Germany
(now Germany)
CitizenshipGerman
NationalityGermany
Political party German:
CDU
 EU:
European People's Party
Children1

Education and early career

Schuster was born in Andernach. From 1980 to 1983, he attended the Federal College of Public Administration in Cologne and Lübeck. From 1983 to 1986 he worked for the Federal Border Police in Brunswick. From 1986 to 1992 he studied economics at the Fernuniversität Hagen, and he subsequently passed the career certificate for the higher service at the college of police in Münster.

At the same time Schuster worked in the Federal Ministry of the Interior between 1985 and 1989. From 1999 to 2002 he was a lecturer at the Federal University of Applied Sciences and Head of Quality Management in Lübeck. Afterwards he served as Deputy Head of the Federal Police Office Frankfurt (Oder). From 2004 to 2009, Schuster then headed as police director of the Federal Police Office Weil am Rhein.[3] Schuster is also European Quality System Manager and Auditor Senior Quality Manager.

Political career

Schuster has been a member of the CDU since 1987. From October 2009 to 2012, he was deputy Chairman, and since 2012 has been chairman of the Lörrach CDU district association.[4][5] In February 2018 Schuster relinquished the district presidency.[6]

From the 2009 elections Schuster served a member of the German Bundestag for the constituency of Lörrach – Müllheim, regularly winning the direct mandate; in the 17th legislature, he was also a member of the Committee on Internal Affairs.[7] He was re-elected at the 2013 federal election. In the 18th Bundestag he was chairman of the Committee on Internal Affairs a member of the Parliamentary Oversight Panel (PKGr).[8] From the year 2015 until the end of the legislative period Schuster was also chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the 3rd Committee of Inquiry for the NSU case.

Schuster was directly elected to the German Bundestag on 24 September 2017 for the third time. In the 19th electoral term, he again assumed the function of chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Committee on Internal Affairs. He was also elected chairman of the PKGr. In addition, he was elected as chairman of the first committee of inquiry on the 2016 Berlin truck attack,[9] which is charged with investigating the circumstances of the terrorist attack of 19 December 2016 and, if necessary, drawing conclusions.

In the negotiations to form a fourth coalition government under Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Schuster was part of the working group on migration policy, led by Volker Bouffier, Joachim Herrmann and Ralf Stegner. In 2018, news media reported that Schuster had been Minister Horst Seehofer’s preferred choice to succeed Hans-Georg Maaßen as President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution; however, Chancellor Merkel reportedly vetoed the appointment.[10] Shortly after, in a vote on the successor of Stephan Harbarth as deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, he lost out against Thorsten Frei.[11]

In addition to his committee work, each year Schuster awards a scholarship under the Parliamentary Sponsorship Program to students or young professionals in his constituency.[12]

Political positions

During the European refugee crisis in autumn 2015 and afterwards, Schuster became one of the most outspoken CDU internal critics of Chancellor Angela Merkel.[13][14] In June 2017, he voted against Germany's introduction of same-sex marriage.[15]

Ahead of the Christian Democrats’ leadership election, Schuster publicly endorsed in 2020 Jens Spahn to succeed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as the party’s chair.[16]

Other activities

Personal life

Schuster is married, has an adult daughter with his wife and lives in Weil am Rhein-Haltingen.

References
  1. Jan Peter Steppat and Bernd Treffler (September 21, 2020), Christian Natterer rückt in den Bundestag nach Schwäbische Zeitung.
  2. Norbert Wallet (September 19, 2020), Nach Fehlschlag beim Warntag: Neuer Katastrophenschutz-Chef kommt aus dem Südwesten Stuttgarter Zeitung.
  3. "Lebenslauf von Armin Schuster" (in German). Retrieved 2018-01-14.
  4. „Wir sind gekommen, um zu bleiben“. In: badische-zeitung.de
  5. CDU sieht sich im Aufwind. In: badische-zeitung.de
  6. Badische Zeitung, Bundestagsabgeordneter Schuster gibt Kreisvorsitz in Lörrach ab - Lörrach - Badische Zeitung (in German), retrieved 2018-03-05
  7. Zur Person. In: badische-zeitung.de, 19. November 2009, online
  8. "Armin Schuster, CDU". Deutscher Bundestag (in German). Archived from the original on 2017-01-23. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  9. Vorsitzender des ersten Untersuchungsausschusses
  10. Seehofer-Vorschlag: Merkel lehnte CDU-Innenexperten Schuster als Verfassungsschutzchef ab Der Spiegel, November 30, 2018.
  11. Sabine Lennartz (December 15, 2018), Thorsten Frei steigt in der Unions-Bundestagsfraktion auf Schwäbische Zeitung.
  12. "STIPENDIUM / PPP". armin-schuster.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-01-14.
  13. "Armin Schuster: CDU-Rebell gegen die Flüchtlingspolitik von Angela Merkel". welt.de (in German). Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  14. Guy Chazan (February 13, 2018), German conservatives start to plan for life after Merkel Financial Times.
  15. Diese Unionsabgeordneten stimmten für die Ehe für alle Die Welt, June 30, 2017.
  16. Mehrere CDU-Abgeordnete sprechen sich für Spahn als künftigen Parteichef aus Agence France-Presse, July 24, 2020.
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