Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
Kramp-Karrenbauer in 2016
Leader of the Christian Democratic Union
In office
7 December 2018 – 22 January 2021
General SecretaryPaul Ziemiak
DeputyVolker Bouffier
Julia Klöckner
Armin Laschet
Ursula von der Leyen
Thomas Strobl
Silvia Breher
Preceded byAngela Merkel
Succeeded byArmin Laschet
General Secretary of the
Christian Democratic Union
In office
26 February 2018 – 7 December 2018
LeaderAngela Merkel
Preceded byPeter Tauber
Succeeded byPaul Ziemiak
Minister of Defence
In office
17 July 2019 – 8 December 2021
ChancellorAngela Merkel
Preceded byUrsula von der Leyen
Succeeded byChristine Lambrecht
Minister-President of the Saarland
In office
10 August 2011 – 28 February 2018
DeputyChristoph Hartmann
Peter Jacoby (interim)
Heiko Maas
Anke Rehlinger
Preceded byPeter Müller
Succeeded byTobias Hans
Leader of the Christian Democratic Union
in the Saarland
In office
28 May 2011 – 19 October 2018
General SecretaryRoland Theis
DeputyPeter Altmaier
Peter Jacoby
Klaus Meiser
Daniela Schlegel-Friedrich
Stephan Toscani
Preceded byPeter Müller
Succeeded byTobias Hans
Parliamentary constituencies
Member of the Bundestag
for Saarland
In office
1 March 1998 – 26 October 1998
Preceded byKlaus Töpfer
Succeeded bymulti-member district
ConstituencyChristian Democratic Union list
Member of the
Landtag of Saarland
In office
29 September 2004 – 1 March 2018
Preceded bymulti-member district
Succeeded byTimo Mildau
Constituencyat-large
In office
29 September 1999 – 29 September 2004
Preceded bymulti-member district
Succeeded bymulti-member district
ConstituencySaarbrücken
Personal details
Born
Annegret Kramp

(1962-08-09) 9 August 1962 (age 62)
Völklingen, Saarland, West Germany
Political partyChristian Democratic Union
Spouse
Helmut Karrenbauer
(m. 1984)
Children3
Alma materSaarland University
University of Trier

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (German pronunciation: [ˈanəɡʁeːt ˈkʁamp ˈkaʁənˌbaʊɐ]; née Kramp; born 9 August 1962), sometimes referred to by her initials of AKK,[1] is a retired German politician who served as Minister of Defence from 2019 to 2021 and as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 2018 to 2021.

In February 2020, Kramp-Karrenbauer announced that she would resign her position as CDU leader later in the year and would not put herself forward as a candidate for chancellor for the 2021 federal election.[2] She was succeeded by Armin Laschet at the January 2021 CDU leadership election.[3]

Kramp-Karrenbauer previously served as secretary general of the party and as Minister President of Saarland from 2011 to 2018,[4] the first woman to lead the Government of Saarland and fourth woman to head a German state government. Kramp-Karrenbauer is regarded as socially conservative, but on the CDU's left wing in economic policy and has been described as a centrist. She is an active Catholic and has served on the Central Committee of German Catholics. She is the second woman to hold the office of German defence minister. She was succeeded by Christine Lambrecht.

In October 2021 she proposed for the use of nuclear weapons against Russia via a First-Strike capability as a deterrence against any "provocation" or aggression.[5]

She renounced her Bundestag mandate and retired from politics after the 2021 federal election.[6]

  1. ^ Angela Merkel Starts Grooming Successors, and One Stands Out Archived 21 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times.
  2. ^ "Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer: Favourite to replace Merkel stands down". BBC News. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  3. ^ "Pragmatic governor Laschet elected to lead Merkel's party". Associated Press. 16 January 2021.
  4. ^ Saarland. "Ministerpräsident – Saarland.de". www.saarland.de. Archived from the original on 30 October 2017.
  5. ^ EURACTIV Network (25 October 2021). "Germans clash over nuclear deterrence against Russia". www.euractiv.com. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Merkel allies quit German parliament to allow conservatives to rebuild". Reuters. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.