Michael Georg Link (born 6 February 1963) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has served a member 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 ...

from 2005 to 2013 and again since 2017. In addition to his parliamentary mandate, he has been serving as the Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation 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 ...

in the

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 ...

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 2022. Link was the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) from July 2014 to June 2017. From January 2012 to December 2013, he served as First Deputy Foreign Minister (Minister of State for Europe) in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...

Early life and work

Link was born in

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Mid ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. After graduating from secondary school at the Elly-Heuss-Knapp Gymnasium in Heilbronn, Link did his military service in the 364th Tank Battalion of the German Federal Armed Forces in Kuelsheim, after which he studied Russian, French, political science, public law and Eastern European history at the

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 ...

, the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; french: links=no, Université de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second oldest in Switzer ...

and

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

. From 1995 to 1999, Link worked as a research assistant in the German Bundestag (study commission on German Unity), assistant to former

German Foreign Minister , insignia = Bundesadler Bundesorgane.svg , insigniasize = 80px , insigniacaption = , department = Federal Foreign Office , image = Annalena Baerbock (cropped, 2).jpg , alt = , incumbent = Annalena Baerbock , incumbentsince = 8 December ...

Klaus Kinkel Klaus Kinkel (17 December 1936 – 4 March 2019)

, and then as senior advisor to the FDP Parliamentary Group on International affairs.

Political career

Link joined the Free Democratic Party (FDP) in 1986. From 1989 to 1995, he served as the Deputy National Chairman and Treasurer of the Young Liberals and as the representative of the Young Liberals in the Federal Executive of the FDP. In 2003, he became a member of the FDP Executive in the state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

, where he served as treasurer from 2006. Michael Link was elected to the Federal Executive of the FDP in 2010.

Member of Parliament, 2005-2013

From 2005 to 2013, Link served as a member of the German Bundestag. In the negotiations to form a

following the 2009 federal elections, he was part of the FDP delegation in the working group on foreign affairs, defense and development policy, led by

Franz Josef Jung Franz Josef Jung (born 5 March 1949) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He became Federal Minister of Defence in the Grand coalition cabinet of Angela Merkel on 22 November 2005. In October 2009 he became Ministe ...

and

Werner Hoyer Werner Hoyer (born 17 November 1951 in Wuppertal) is a German economist and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who is currently serving as the President of the European Investment Bank. Education and early career Hoyer graduated as ...

. In 2009, Link became spokesperson on European Union Budget and Finance for the FDP Parliamentary Group. From 2009 to 2012, he was the group's spokesperson on European Affairs and Chairman of the Parliamentary Group on International Affairs. From 2009 to 2012, Link was Deputy Chairman of the Bundestag's Committee on European Union Affairs. During this time, from 2006 to 2013, he was also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE.

First Deputy Foreign Minister, 2012-2013

On 24 January 2012, Link succeeded

as Minister of State for European Affairs and First Deputy Foreign Minister at the

. He was also Commissioner for Franco-German co-operation. In that capacity, he served as ex-officio chairman of the supervisory board of the Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) and as member of the board of trustees of the German Foundation for Peace Research. Link left the Bundestag as well as his office as Minister of State as a result of the change of government after the

2013 German federal election Federal elections were held on 22 September to elect the members of the 18th Bundestag of Germany. At stake were all 598 seats to the Bundestag, plus 33 overhang seats determined thereafter. The Christian Democratic Union of Germany/ Christian ...

Director of ODIHR, 2014–2017

In May 2014, Link was nominated to become Director of the

Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the principal institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) dealing with the " human dimension" of security. The Office, originally named Office for ...

(ODIHR) of the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

(OSCE) by the Foreign Ministers of the 57 OSCE participating States. He assumed office on 1 July 2014. In his capacity as director, Link notably attended a 2015 court hearing related to the case of

Nadiya Savchenko Nadiya Viktorivna Savchenko ( uk, Надія Вікторівна Савченко; born 11 May 1981) is a Ukrainian politician, former Army aviation pilot in the Ukrainian Ground Forces and former People's Deputy of Ukraine. During the 2014 ...

, the Ukrainian Air Force pilot and Member of Parliament charged with complicity in the murder of two Russian journalists near

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; uk, Луганськ, ), also known as Lugansk (, ; russian: Луганск, ), is a city in what is internationally recognised as Ukraine, although it is administered by Russia as capital of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). A ...

, at the Moscow City Court. He also served as chief election observer during the 2016 presidential election in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

; the OSCE had sent its biggest team ever to the United States for the election amid charges from candidate

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

that the poll could be “rigged” and concerns by civil rights activists that black voters could face undue obstacles. Link was succeeded by

Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir (; born 31 December 1954) is an Icelandic politician from the Social Democratic Alliance who has served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (2007–2009) and leader of the Alliance (2005–2009). She served as repre ...

on 19 July 2017.

Member of Parliament, 2017–present

Link was re-elected to the German Bundestag in the 2017 elections. He has since been serving on the Committee on European Affairs and on the Budget Committee's Sub-Committee on European Affairs. On the Budget Committee, he has been his parliamentary group's

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

on the budgets of the

(2018–present) and the

Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (german: Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung, ), abbreviated BMZ, is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its main office is ...

(2018–2021). He also serves as deputy chairman of the German-French Parliamentary Friendship Group and of the German-Russian Parliamentary Friendship Group. In addition to his committee assignments, Link has been serving as substitute member of the German delegation to the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up o ...

(PACE). At the Assembly, he is a member of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs. He also was elected deputy chairperson of the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; french: Alliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour l'Europe, ADLE) is a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Euro ...

group under the leadership of chair

Rik Daems Hendrik Jules Joseph "Rik" Daems (born 18 August 1959) is a Belgian painter, wine trader and politician who served as the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2020 to 2022, a 70-year-old body bringing together par ...

in 2018. During his time in office, Link also led the short-term

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

observer missions for the 2018 presidential elections in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and the 2023 presidential election in Turkey. 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 Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(SPD), 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 ...

and the FDP following the 2021 federal elections, Link was part of his party's delegation in the working group on foreign policy, defence, development cooperation and human rights, co-chaired by

Heiko Maas Heiko Josef Maas (; born 19 September 1966) is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs (2018–2021) and as the Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protectio ...

Omid Nouripour Omid Nouripour ( fa, امید نوری‌پور; born 18 June 1975) is a German politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since 2006, representing the state of Hesse. Since 2022, he has also been ...

and Alexander Graf Lambsdorff.

Other activities

* 1014 – space for ideas, Member of the Board of Directors (since 2022) * Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF), Member of the International Advisory Board * Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, Member of the Board of Trustees *

Franco-German Institute The Deutsch-Französisches Institut (DFI) is an independent non-profit organization devoted to research on and documentation of contemporary Franco-German relations. The institute is funded by the German Foreign Office, the regional government ...

(DFI), Member of the Board * Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation, Member of the Board of Trustees * German-French Institute (DFI), Member of the Board * Humanity in Action Germany, Member of the Advisory Board * Reinhold Maier Foundation, Member of the Board *

German Council on Foreign Relations The German Council on Foreign Relations (german: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e. V. (DGAP)) is Germany's national foreign policy network and policy research institute. As an independent, private, non-partisan and non-profit org ...

(DGAP), Member * German Association for Eastern European Studies (DGO), Member * Southeast Europe Association, Member * German Atlantic Association, Member * Walther Rathenau Institute, Member of the Board (–2022)Board
Walther Rathenau Institute.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Link, Michael Georg People from Heilbronn 1963 births Living people University of Augsburg alumni Members of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg OSCE ODIHR directors Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag for the Free Democratic Party (Germany)