Michael Steiner (born 28 November 1949, in Munich) is a German diplomat who served as head of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). He was the German Ambassador to India from March 2012 - June 2015.

Early life and education

Michael Steiner was born on 28 November 1949 in Bavaria, Germany. Steiner studied law in Paris and Munich from 1971 to 1977 and qualified as a

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

in 1981.

Career

In 1981, Steiner entered the German Foreign Office. As a young political officer in Prague in the summer of 1989, he won plaudits for his handling of a refugee crisis that helped lead to the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

. As hundreds of East Germans surrounded his embassy grounds, asking for asylum and West German citizenship, he helped some of them over the wall himself, onto the embassy grounds, which were West German territory. Then he worked to negotiate a deal to allow the East Germans to leave the embassy and go to the West. During his career with the German government, Steiner served as head of the liaison office for German humanitarian aid in Zagreb, made his mark in the 1990s working with the so-called Contact Group of nations monitoring the Yugoslav wars (of which Germany was a member), and as head of the co-ordination unit for multilateral peace efforts. He also led the special section "International Peace Efforts in Yugoslavia" from 1994 to 1995. Steiner served nearly six months (January–July 1997) as principal deputy to Carl Bildt, the first high representative in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1998, while serving as Germany's ambassador in Prague, he was plucked by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to work in the chancellor's office as his foreign and security policy adviser. And in 2001 he was forced to resign after the so-called "". In December 2001 he was appointed a head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo by UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. He was the third special representative of the secretary general for Kosovo since UNMIK was established in 1999. He followed

Hans Haekkerup Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...

of Denmark and

Bernard Kouchner Bernard Kouchner KBE (born 1 November 1939) is a French politician and doctor. He is the co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Médecins du Monde. From 2007 until 2010, he was the French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs ...

of France, and was replaced by Harri Hermani Holkeri of Finland on 8 July 2003. From April 2010 to March 2012, Steiner served as Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan for the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In March 2012 Steiner was pronounced new ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to India. On 20 July 2012, he hosted a festive ceremony at his residence in the honour of Zubin Mehta to acknowledge his outstanding contribution in the field of classical music.

Personal life

Michael Steiner married Eliese Steiner, an art historian. They first met at the Colosseum in Italy.

Controversy

In early 2001, Steiner was criticized for apparently leaking information about sensitive talks between Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and US President George W. Bush. On 2 November 2001, he had a row with three German soldiers stationed in Moscow, when Schröder's plane was delayed for refuelling on the last day of a tour of Asia. Steiner allegedly called the soldiers "arseholes" and demanded that they served him caviar during the delay. Soon after news media reported about the incident, Steiner publicly apologized and resigned from his post.

''Lebe jetzt''

To celebrate his retirement as German Ambassador to India, the German Embassy released a video on YouTube named ''Lebe jetzt''.German Embassy India: Lebe jetzt - Kal Ho Naa Ho
/ref> The video was a homage to popular Hindi movie Kal Ho Na Ho starring

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. Referred to in the media as the " Baadshah of Bollywood", "King of Bollywood" ...

. Steiner played the part of Khan, his wife Eliese played the part of Preity Zinta whereas former Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid played the part essayed by Saif Ali Khan.Kal Ho Na Ho with Mr & Mrs German Ambassador & Mr Khurshid
The New Indian Express.

References

External links

Steiner appointed head of the UNMIK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steiner, Michael Living people Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd Class Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1949 births Ambassadors of Germany to Italy Ambassadors of Germany to India Ambassadors of Germany to the Czech Republic Special Representatives of the Secretary-General of the United Nations