Michael Roth (politician)

Michael Roth
Michael Roth, 2013
Member of the Bundestag
Incumbent
Assumed office
1998
Personal details
Born August 24, 1970
Heringen, Germany
Nationality German
Political party Social Democratic Party

Michael Roth (born 24 August 1970 in Heringen) is a German politician and a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Since 17 December 2013, he has been Minister of State for Europe at the German Federal Foreign Office in the third Merkel Cabinet. Since January 2014, he has also been Federal Government Commissioner for Franco German Cooperation.


Personal life and academic career

Roth obtained his Abitur (higher education entrance qualification) at the Werratal secondary school in Heringen in 1990. After completing non military national service, he began studying political science, public law, sociology, and German language and literature at the Johann Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main in 1991. He was awarded a scholarship from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and graduated with a degree in political science in 1997. He worked as a tutor at the Center for North American Studies and in the Faculty of Social Sciences at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main until 1998 and as a lecturer at the Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science at the Freie Universität Berlin from 2000 to 2002.

SPD membership

Roth joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) as a pupil in 1987. In his party he served as Deputy Federal Chairperson of the Young Socialists (youth section of the SPD) from 1993 to 1995, has been a member of the executive committee of the North Hesse district branch of the SPD since 1996, was Chairman of the Hersfeld-Rotenburg subdistrict branch of the SPD from 2001 to 2011 and Secretary-General of the Hesse Land branch of the SPD from 2009 to 2014.

Member of the German Bundestag

Roth became a Member of the German Bundestag for the first time in 1998, entering as the directly elected representative of the Hersfeld constituency with 51.7 percent of the first vote. In 2002 he was re elected to the Bundestag with 54.9 percent of the first vote of the newly merged constituency of Werra-Meißner – Hersfeld-Rotenburg. In subsequent elections he received 51.7 percent (2005) and 40.4 percent (2009) of the first vote. From 2010 to 2013 Roth served as spokesperson on European policy for the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag. From 2009 to 2014 he chaired the group of SPD parliamentarians from Hesse in the Bundestag. Roth was elected as lead candidate for the Social Democrats in Hesse for the 2013 elections on 9 March 2013 at a SPD party conference in Hanau, where he gained 89 percent of the votes. In the 2013 Bundestag elections Roth won 43.1 percent of the first vote in the Werra-Meißner – Hersfeld-Rotenburg constituency. In the ensuing coalition negotiations he was a member of the joint CDU, CSU and SPD working group on foreign affairs, defence and development cooperation.

Minister of State for Europe

On 17 December 2013, Roth was appointed Minister of State for Europe at the German Federal Foreign Office in the third Merkel Cabinet. Since January 2014 he has also been Federal Government Commissioner for Franco-German Cooperation. As Minister of State for Europe, Roth is deputy to Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Besides EU, Eastern European and Russian affairs, Roth’s main responsibilities lie in foreign and security policy, disarmament and arms control, as well as bilateral relationships with the United States, Canada, the Middle East, the Maghreb and East Asia. As chairman of the State Secretaries Committee for European Affairs, Roth participates in the Federal Government’s Cabinet meetings. He also represents the Federal Government on the EU’s General Affairs Council. Roth’s main focus is the reinforcement of basic values and the rule of law within the EU. In his speeches he also emphasises the importance of enhancing social cohesion within the EU in order to counter citizens’ loss of confidence in the Union.

Positions and memberships

External links

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