Claudia Benedikta Roth (born 15 May 1955) is a German politician (

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

). She was one of the two party chairs from 2004 to 2013 and previously served as one of the

vice presidents A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

of the ''

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

''. She is also currently serving as Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media in the government of

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Olaf Scholz Olaf Scholz (; born ) is a German politician who has served as the chancellor of Germany since 8 December 2021. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice Chancellor of German ...

since 2021.

Biography

Roth was born in

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

, Germany. She began her artistic work, which she always regarded as also being political, in the 1970s as a trained artistic director at a theatre in

Memmingen Memmingen (; Swabian: ''Memmenge'') is a town in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is the economic, educational and administrative centre of the Danube-Iller region. To the west the town is flanked by the Iller, the river that marks the Baden-Wü ...

. She then worked at the municipal theatre in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

and the Hoffmanns-Comic-Teater, and subsequently began managing the political rock band "

Ton Steine Scherben Ton Steine Scherben () was one of the first and most influential German language rock bands of the 1970s and early 1980s. Well known for the highly political and emotional lyrics of vocalist Rio Reiser, they became a musical mouthpiece of ...

" until 1985, when the band disbanded due to the band's high debt burden. She came into contact with the

Green party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

on election campaign tours. In 1985, she became press spokesperson for the Green Party's parliamentary group in the

, despite being a newcomer to this line of work.

Member of the European Parliament

In West Germany's 1989 European elections, Roth was elected for the first time as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

for the Greens. Roth served as a member of the new Committee on Civic Liberties and Internal Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Sub-Committee on Human Rights. In addition, she was a member of two committees of inquiry in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, namely the Committee of Inquiry into Racism and Xenophobia and the Committee of Inquiry into Links between Organized Crime and Drugs, as well as of the EC-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee. From 1989 to 1990, Roth briefly served as deputy chairperson of the

Green Group in the European Parliament The Green Group in the European Parliament was a Green political group with seats in the European Parliament between 1989 and 1999. History In 1989 the Rainbow Group split, with the Greens forming a group called "The Green Group in the Europea ...

. In the 1994 European elections, Roth was again elected to the European Parliament as a lead candidate of Alliance 90/The Greens. She was chairperson of the Green Group in the European Parliament until 1998, first alongside co-chairman Alexander Langer (1994–1995) and later

Magda Aelvoet Magdalena Godelieve Hilda Aelvoet (born 4 April 1944) is a Belgian politician in Flanders. She was a provincial senator for Antwerp between 1985 and 1991 and a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives for the district of Leuven between 1 ...

(1995–1998). During this second term as an MEP, she was again a member of the

European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) is a committee of the European Parliament that is responsible for protecting civil liberties and human rights, as listed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. ...

, the Sub-Committee on Human Rights and the EC-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, of which she was elected deputy chairperson. She also remained involved with the Committee on Foreign Affairs as a substitute member.

Member of the German Bundestag

upleft, Roth in 2005 Claudia Roth ended her work as an MEP when she became part of the

parliamentary group in the Bundestag after the

1998 German federal election Federal elections were held in Germany on 27 September 1998 to elect the members of the 14th Bundestag. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) emerged as the largest faction in parliament for the first time since 1972, with its leader Gerhard Schröd ...

. She became a member of the Committee on the Affairs of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and a substitute member of the Committee on Internal Affairs of the German Bundestag. Furthermore, she was elected chairperson of the newly established Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid. On 9 March 2001, Roth was elected Federal chairperson of Alliance 90/The Greens at the party conference in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

and resigned as a Member of the Bundestag at the end of March 2001 as a result. At the same time, she was spokesperson of the Alliance 90/The Greens on women's affairs. In the 2002 national elections, Roth was elected to the Bundestag as Bavarian lead candidate for Alliance 90/The Greens. Since then, she has been a member of the Bundestag's Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Cultural and Media Affairs. She is also cultural affairs spokesperson for the Alliance 90/The Greens parliamentary group in the Bundestag and chairperson of the German-Turkish Parliamentary Friendship Group. Between March 2003 and October 2004, in Chancellor

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany ...

's second cabinet, Roth served as the Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the

Federal Foreign Office , logo = DEgov-AA-Logo en.svg , logo_width = 260 px , image = Auswaertiges Amt Berlin Eingang.jpg , picture_width = 300px , image_caption = Entrance to the Foreign Office building , headquarters = Werderscher Mark ...

. Roth became federal chairperson of Alliance 90/The Greens again in October 2004 and was re-elected as such several times, most recently in November 2010. In 2012, she failed to become the number-one woman in the campaign for the 2013 national elections. After this defeat she was unsure to run again for the position of leader of the party's board. Fellow party member Volker Beck started a support campaign in favour of her in social media networks and called it candystorm. The party members subsequently re-elected Roth with 88.5 percent backing. Roth served as deputy chairwoman of the German-Iranian Parliamentary Friendship Group between 2005 and 2009 and held the same office in the German-Turkish Friendship Group between 2005 and 2013.

Vice-President of the German Bundestag

Roth was elected as Vice-President of the German Bundestag on 22 October 2013. In addition, she is a member of the parliament's Council of Elders, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigning committee chairpersons based on party representation. She also serves as a member of the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development as well as of the Sub-Committee on Cultural Relations and Education Policy. In addition, she is a member of the Art Advisory Board of the German

. In the unsuccessful negotiations to form a

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

with the Christian Democrats – both the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the

Christian Social Union in Bavaria The Christian Social Union in Bavaria (German: , CSU) is a Christian-democratic and conservative political party in Germany. Having a regionalist identity, the CSU operates only in Bavaria while its larger counterpart, the Christian Democratic ...

(CSU) – and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) following the 2017 national elections, Roth was part of the 14-member delegation of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

. In the negotiations to form a so-called

traffic light coalition In German politics, a traffic light coalition (german: Ampelkoalition) is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' tra ...

of the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

(SPD), the Green Party and the FDP following the 2021 federal elections, she led her party's delegation in the working group on cultural affairs and media; her co-chairs from the other parties are Carsten Brosda and Otto Fricke.

Political career

* 1985–1989: Press spokeswoman for the Green party of West Germany * 1985–1998: Member of the

(Chairwoman of the Green Party faction from 1994 to 1998) * 1998 – March 2001: Member of the Green Party faction in the German Parliament (Bundestag) ** Chairwoman of the Human Rights Board in the German Parliament * March 2001 – December 2002: Chairwoman of the German Green Party (together with

Fritz Kuhn Fritz Kuhn (born 29 June 1955) is a German politician who served as Mayor of Stuttgart from 2012 until 2021. He was co-chairman of Alliance '90/The Greens, the German Green party, in 2002 and its parliamentary group from 2002 to 2013. Early ...

) * 22 September 2002 – present: Member of the Green Party faction in the

* October 2004 – October 2013: Chairwoman of the German Green Party (together with

Reinhard Bütikofer Reinhard Hans Bütikofer (born 26 January 1953) is a German politician who has been serving as a member of the European Parliament since 2009. He is a member of the Alliance 90/The Greens, part of the European Green Party. He was the co-chair of ...

until 2008, then

Cem Özdemir Cem Özdemir (, ; born 21 December 1965) is a German politician who currently serves as Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture since 2021. He is a member of the Alliance 90/The Greens party. Between 2008 and 2018, Özdemir co-chaired the G ...

) * 22 October 2013 – present:

Vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

of the Bundestag

Political positions

Roth in 2019

On Turkey

Since her time at the European Parliament, Roth has regularly criticized the European Union's "determination to hold Turkey at bay." In 1995, she expressed doubts about Prime Minister

Tansu Çiller Tansu Çiller (; born 24 May 1946) is a Turkish academic, economist and politician who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey from 1993 to 1996. She is Turkey's first and only female prime minister to date. As the leader of the True Path P ...

's ability to bring about human rights reforms as a condition for a

European Union–Turkey Customs Union The European Union–Turkey Customs Union is a trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Turkey. The agreement came into effect on 31 December 1995, following a 6 March 1995 Decision of the European Community–Turkey Associatio ...

. In June 2013, Roth was at the surroundings of the

Taksim Square Taksim Square ( tr, Taksim Meydanı, ), situated in Beyoğlu in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops, and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the c ...

when the police intervened to evacuate

Gezi Park Taksim Gezi Park is an urban park next to Taksim Square, in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district (historically known as Pera.) It is one of the last green spaces in Beyoğlu and one of the smallest parks of Istanbul. In May 2013, plans to replace the ...

and was among those affected by the

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ad ...

fired by security officers. Following the victory of

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

in the 2014 presidential election, she criticized the "dramatic erosion of the democratic system in Turkey." In May 2017, Roth canceled a visit of a parliamentary delegation to Turkey where participants had planned to talk to opposition lawmakers, governors and rights groups about that year's

constitutional referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

, saying Ankara had refused to give them a security detail.

On right-wing extremism

On Friday 17 March 2006, Roth reported herself to the German police for displaying a crossed-out swastika on multiple demonstrations against

Neo-Nazis Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...

, and subsequently got the Bundestag to suspend her immunity from prosecution. She intended to show the absurdity of charging anti-fascists with using fascist symbols: "We don't need prosecution of non-violent young people engaging against right-wing extremism."

On the death penalty

In 2008, Roth publicly urged incoming U.S. president

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

to "be pushing for the banning of the death penalty, not for upholding it. The death penalty is the biggest blow against human rights and the right to live. He is not in a position to determine whether people live or die, not even in punishing them for the worst crimes!" Speaking in her capacity as leader of the Green Party and underlining the profound divergence in opinion concerning capital punishment in the United States and Western Europe, Roth called the execution of

Troy Davis Troy Anthony Davis (October 9, 1968 – September 21, 2011) was a man convicted of and executed for the August 19, 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia. MacPhail was working as a security guard at a Burger King re ...

in 2011 "a cynical and inhumane spectacle that occasions mourning and horror." She has also spoken out against capital punishment on numerous other occasions, including the execution of the LaGrand brothers in 1999 which she attended.

On patriarchal beauty standards

In 2015, Roth responded to critics of her appearance, stating that for her to have the wart on her nose removed would be "surrender to the patriarchal standards of beauty pushed by the oppressive right-wing".

On the use of military force

Shortly after the U.S. launched military operations in Afghanistan in October 2001, Roth criticized the use of antipersonnel cluster bombs was "not appropriate". Her statement came a day after some 10,000 people, some of them carrying banners that said "Against repression and war" and "The American way of life is too expensive for our world," turned out in Berlin in a peaceful protest against the bombings. When the members of the Green Party later defied their pacifist roots and voted overwhelmingly in favor of sending German soldiers to Afghanistan as part of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

-led security mission

ISAF ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

, Roth maintained that " he Greensare and remain an antiwar party. But I think that under certain circumstances it must be possible to engage militarily in order to stop violence." As a consequence, Roth has in the past voted in favor of German participation in

United Nations peacekeeping Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role held by the Department of Peace Operations as an "instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace". It is distinguished ...

missions as well as in United Nations-mandated European Union peacekeeping missions on the African continent, such as in

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

(2009, 2010), Darfur/Sudan (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015),

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

(2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015),

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

(2014, 2015) and the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

(2014). In 2013 and 2014, she abstained from the vote on continuing German participation in

Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia, is a current counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean, that is the first naval operation conducted by the E ...

in Somalia, and she voted has against the

European Union Training Mission Somalia The European Union Training Mission Somalia (EUTM Somalia) is a training operation for the Somali Armed Forces conducted by military officials from European Union states. Operations On 10 April 2010, the European Union launched a military traini ...

(2014, 2015 and 2016).

Arms exports

In 2010, Roth publicly called for "more stringent control over and sharper criteria governing arms exports." In 2014, she – alongside fellow Green Party parliamentarians Katja Keul and

Hans-Christian Ströbele Hans-Christian Ströbele (; 7 June 1939 – 29 August 2022) was a German politician and lawyer. He was a member of Alliance 90/The Greens, the German green party. Education and early career Ströbele was born on 7 June 1939 in Halle, Saale, t ...

– lodged a complaint before the

Federal Constitutional Court of Germany The Federal Constitutional Court (german: link=no, Bundesverfassungsgericht ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its inc ...

, arguing that it was unconstitutional for the government to keep the Bundestag in the dark about planned arms deals because it prevented the parliament from fulfilling its role of keeping the government in check. The court ruled that while the government did not have to disclose information about planned defense exports, it did have an obligation to provide the Bundestag with details, on request, once specific arms deals had been approved. In a 2015 interview with ''

Welt am Sonntag Welt, welts or variants may refer to: Media * ''Die Welt'' (''The World''), a German national newspaper ** ''Welt am Sonntag'' (''World on Sunday''), the Sunday edition of ''Die Welt'' * ''Die Welt (Herzl), Die Welt'', former weekly newspaper in ...

'', Roth singled out exports to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

for criticism, calling the country "the top terror exporter in the Middle East" and raising concerns that the country's leaders may turn weapons sold by Germany on their own people."Gabriel to call for Badawi release, negotiate contracts"
''Deutsche Welle'', 7 March 2015.

Relations with Tibet

Roth has met the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...

several times during her time in parliament and has been a supporter of the Tibet movement. In 2015, Roth addressed the official commemoration of the 56th Tibetan National Uprising day alongside

Sikyong The () is the political leader of the Central Tibetan Administration, a Tibetan exile organisation also known as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile based on the 2011 Charter of Tibetans-in-exile. The title was created in 2012 after the 14th Dalai ...

Lobsang Sangay Lobsang Sangay (, ; born 5 September 1968) is a Tibetan-American politician who was Kalon Tripa of the Tibetan Administration from 2011 to 2012, and Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration from 2012 to 2021. The Tibetan Administration ...

Dharamshala Dharamshala (; also spelled Dharamsala) is the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh, India. It serves as administrative headquarters of the Kangra district after being relocated from Kangra, a city located away from Dharamshala, in 1855. The ...

. Alongside

Robert Badinter Robert Badinter (; born 30 March 1928) is a French lawyer, politician and author who enacted the abolition of the death penalty in France in 1981, while serving as Minister of Justice under François Mitterrand. He has also served in high-lev ...

and

Karel Schwarzenberg Prince Karel of Schwarzenberg (, born 10 December 1937) is a Czech politician, former leader of the TOP 09 party and was its candidate for president of the Czech Republic in the 2013 election. He served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies ( ...

, she became one of the first signers of the 2015 Paris Declaration which calls for European governments to develop a coordinated approach in addressing China's policies in Tibet.

Other activities (selection)

* Culture Foundation of the

German Football Association The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of t ...

(DFB), Member of the Board of Trustees * ''Denkwerk Demokratie'', Member of the Advisory Board *

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (English: ''German Agency for International Cooperation GmbH''), often simply shortened to GIZ, is the main German development agency. It is headquartered in Bonn and Eschb ...

(GIZ), Member of the Board of Trustees *

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

, Member of the Environmental Advisory Board *

Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and ...

, Delegate to the General Meeting * Humanist Union, Member of the Advisory Board * International Committee for the Liberation of the Kurdish Parliamentarians Imprisoned in Turkey, Vice President * International Journalists' Programmes, Member of the Board of Trustees * Tarabya Academy, Member of the Advisory Board *

University of Augsburg The University of Augsburg (german: Universität Augsburg) is a university located in the Universitätsviertel section of Augsburg, Germany. It was founded in 1970 and is organized in 8 Faculties. The University of Augsburg is a relatively you ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees * European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, Member of the board of directors (2002–2006) *

(DFB), Member of the Sustainability Council (2009–2013) * German Orient Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees (2002–2006)

Recognition

* 2004 –

Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

* 2014 –

Bavarian Order of Merit The Bavarian Order of Merit (german: Bayerischer Verdienstorden) is the Order of Merit of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria ...

Criticism

Roth has been criticized for her positive relations with the

Islamic Republic of Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Along with fellow lawmakers

Günter Gloser Gunter or Günter may refer to: * Gunter rig, a type of rig used in sailing, especially in small boats * Gunter Annex, Alabama, a United States Air Force installation * Gunter, Texas, city in the United States People Surname * Chris Gunter ...

Monika Grütters Monika Grütters (born 9 January 1962) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2013-2021. She has ...

Luc Jochimsen Lukrezia Luise "Luc" Jochimsen ( ''Lukrezia Schleussinger''; born 1 March 1936), is a German former television journalist and politician of The Left party. Professional career Luc Jochimsen was born in Nuremberg, the daughter of a vehicle deal ...

and

Peter Gauweiler Peter Gauweiler (born 22 June 1949) is a German lawyer and politician of Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU) who served as a member of the German Bundestag from 2002 to 2015, representing the Munich South district. From 2013 until 2015, he al ...

, she travelled to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in 2010 to meet with

Ali Larijani Ali Ardeshir Larijani ( fa, علی لاریجانی, ; born 3 June 1957) is an Iranian conservative politician, philosopher and former military officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who served as the Speaker of the Parliament of Iran ...

Manouchehr Mottaki Manouchehr Mottaki ( fa, منوچهر متکی; born 12 May 1953) is an Iranian politician and diplomat. He was the Iranian minister of foreign affairs. Whilst technically appointed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he is considered to be closer to more pr ...

and others; the trip was heavily criticized by international human rights organizations. In February 2013, she was reprimanded by German media outlets and Iranian dissidents for warmly greeting the Iranian ambassador to Germany,

Alireza Sheikhattar Alireza Sheikhattar (born 9 June 1952 in Tehran) is an Iranian diplomat and previous ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Berlin. Life After receiving a BA in chemistry from the Sharif University of Technology, he earned a Master's in ...

, with a

high five High five is a friendly gesture in which one individual slaps another's hand. High five (and variants such as Hi5, Hi-5, and Hi-Five) may also refer to: Music * Hi-5 (Australian group), an Australian children's musical group * Hi-5 (Greek band), ...

; Iranian Kurdish dissidents hold Sheikhattar responsible for the murder of Kurds during his tenure as governor of Iran's

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...

and West Azerbaijan provinces from 1980 to 1985. In 2015, Roth again led a German parliamentary delegation for a five-day visit to Tehran, including meetings with Iranian Parliament Speaker

, Deputy Speaker

Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabi Fard Hojatoleslam Seyyed Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabi Fard ( fa, محمدحسن ابوترابی‌فرد; born January 30, 1953) is an Iranian conservative politician and the former first deputy speaker of the Parliament of Iran. He was representative ...

, Deputy Foreign Minister

Majid Takht-Ravanchi Majid Takht-Ravanchi (also Takht-e-Ravanchi, fa, ‌مجید تخت‌روانچی, born 15 October 1958, in Tehran) is an Iranian diplomat. He served as the Ambassador of Iran to the United Nations from 2019 to 2022. Education Takht-Ravanchi ho ...

, presidential candidate

Mohammad Reza Aref Mohammad Reza Aref ( fa, محمدرضا عارف, born 19 December 1951) is an Iranian engineer, academic and reformist politician who was the parliamentary leader of reformists' Hope fraction in the Iranian Parliament, representing Tehran, Rey, S ...

as well as two of President

Hassan Rouhani Hassan Rouhani ( fa, حسن روحانی, Standard Persian pronunciation: ; born Hassan Fereydoun ( fa, حسن فریدون, links=no); 12 November 1948) is an Iranian politician who served as the seventh president of Iran from 2013 to 2021. ...

's deputies namely Shahindokht Molaverdi, the vice president for women's affairs, and

Masoumeh Ebtekar Masoumeh Ebtekar ( fa, معصومه ابتکار; born 21 September 1960) was the former Vice President of Iran for Women and Family Affairs, from August 9, 2017, to September 1, 2021. She previously headed Department of Environment from 1997 ...

,"Iran verärgert über Grünen-Politikerin"
''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

'', 28 January 2015. the vice president and chairwoman of the Department of Environment; she was, however, denied a meeting with human-rights activist

Narges Mohammadi Narges Mohammadi (; born 21 April 1972) is an Iranian human rights activist and the vice president of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. In May 2016, she was sentenced in Tehran to 16 ...

Personal life

Roth lives in Berlin's

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

district. In addition, she maintains a holiday home in

Bodrum Bodrum () is a port city in Muğla Province, southwestern Turkey, at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Its population was 35,795 at the 2012 census, with a total of 136,317 inhabitants residing within the district's borders. Known in ancient ...

, Turkey.Antje Hildebrandt (19 June 2017)
"Die Masche „Piep piep piep, wir haben uns alle lieb"
''

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...

''.

References

External links