Rolf Heinrich Mützenich (born 25 June 1959) is a German politician of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

(SPD) who has been serving as chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in 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 ...

since June 2019.

Early life and education

Mützenich was born 1959 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

and studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

at the

University of Bremen The University of Bremen (German: ''Universität Bremen'') is a public university in Bremen, Germany, with approximately 23,500 people from 115 countries. It is one of 11 institutions which were successful in the category "Institutional Strategi ...

and earned his PhD in 1991.

Early career

After completing his doctorate, Mützenich joined the State Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia. From 1993 he worked as a research assistant for the SPD parliamentary group in the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia until he returned to the State Ministry of Social Affairs in 1998, under the leadership of minister Ilse Brusis. From 2001 to 2002 he served as chief of staff to the President of the North Rhine-Westphalian State Parliament, Ulrich Schmidt.

Political career

Mützenich entered in the SPD in 1975. He has been a member of the German Bundestag since the 2002 national elections, representing

. From 2002 until 2013, he served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was also a member of the Subcommittee on Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation from 2006 until 2009. In addition to his committee assignments, Mützenich has in the past chaired the German Iranian Parliamentary Friendship Group (2006–2009) and the German-Japanese Parliamentary Friendship Group (2010–2013). Within the SPD parliamentary group, Mützenich belongs to the Parliamentary Left, a left-wing movement. He has been part of internal working groups on the Middle East (2005–2009) and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

(2009–2013). From 2009 until 2013, he served as the group's spokesperson on foreign policy. He later became deputy chairman of the parliamentary group under the leadership of successive chairpersons

Thomas Oppermann Thomas Ludwig Albert Oppermann (27 April 195425 October 2020) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). From October 2017 until his death he served as Vice President of the Bundestag. In his earlier career, he serv ...

(2013–2017) and

Andrea Nahles Andrea Maria Nahles (born 20 June 1970) is a former German politician who has been the director of the Federal Employment Agency (BA) since 2022. Nahles is best known for having served as leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from April ...

(2017–2019). In the 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 ...

under the leadership 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 ...

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 ...

following the 2017 federal elections, Mützenich was part of the working group on foreign policy, led by

Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; Albrecht, born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 an ...

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional footballer. A striker renowned for his clinical finishing, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalsco ...

and

Sigmar Gabriel Sigmar Hartmut Gabriel (born 12 September 1959) is a German politician who was the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2018 and the vice-chancellor of Germany from 2013 to 2018. He was Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...

. In June 2019, Mützenich became acting chairman of the SPD parliamentary group after the startling demission of

. Editorial writers saw Mützenich as chairman responsible for scaring away several qualified candidates for the position of secretary of defense in the

Scholz cabinet The Scholz cabinet (German: ''Kabinett Scholz'', ) is the current cabinet of Germany, led by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The cabinet is composed of Scholz's Social Democratic Party, Alliance 90/The Greens and the Free Democratic Party, an a ...

, like Fritz Felgentreu and

Hans-Peter Bartels Hans-Peter Bartels (born 7 May 1961) is a German politician of the SPD who served as member of the Bundestag for Kiel. From 2015 until 2020, he was the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces. Political career Bartels has been a member o ...

, which led to

Christine Lambrecht Christine Lambrecht (born 19 June 1965) is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as the Federal Minister of Defence in the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz since December 2021. In the gov ...

ending up in the position after the 2021 elections.

Other activities

* Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Member of the Political Advisory Board (since 2020) *

Friedrich Ebert Foundation The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (''German: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: FES'') is a German political party foundation associated with, but independent from, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Established in 1925 as the ...

, Member of the Board *

Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (German: ''Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung'', MPIfG) is a German social-science research institute within the Max Planck Society located in Cologne. Established in 1985, it was ...

(MPIfG), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2009) * ''Zeitschrift für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik'', Member of the Advisory Board (since 2009) * German United Services Trade Union (ver.di), Member * Development and Peace Foundation (SEF), Member of the Board of Trustees (2013–2019) *

German Institute for International and Security Affairs The German Institute for International and Security Affairs (german: Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik; SWP) is a German think tank in international relations and security studies. A semi-official organization with close links to the federal gov ...

(SWP), Member of the Council (2009–2014) * German-Iranian Society, Member of the Advisory Board (2009–2011)

Political positions

Over the years, Mützenich has been a vocal critic of the deployment of German forces in Afghanistan. In 2015, Mützenich criticized SPD "rapprochement romantics" in Germany's relationship with

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 warned against the "misconception that old-style

Ostpolitik ''Neue Ostpolitik'' (German for "new eastern policy"), or ''Ostpolitik'' for short, was the normalization of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany) and Eastern Europe, particularly the German Democratic Republ ...

was possible following the annexation of Crimea." In 2018, he was one of the most important critics of the decision made by Foreign Minister

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 ...

to expel four Russian diplomats over the nerve agent attack on

Sergei Skripal Sergei Viktorovich Skripal ( rus, Серге́й Ви́кторович Скрипáль, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪtɕ skrʲɪˈpalʲ; born 23 June 1951) is a former Russian military intelligence officer who acted as a double agent f ...

and his daughter Yulia, describing that the expulsion as “too hasty“ and saying there was still no conclusive proof that the Russian government was behind the poisoning. When Germany entered the process of phasing out its aging fleet of

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

fighter jets to fulfill its

nuclear sharing Nuclear sharing is a concept in NATO's policy of nuclear deterrence, which allows member countries without nuclear weapons of their own to participate in the planning for the use of nuclear weapons by NATO. In particular, it provides for the ar ...

obligations with the U.S., Mützenich called for an American nuclear withdrawal in a 2020 interview with newspaper ''

Der Tagesspiegel ''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, s ...

''. According to Mützenich, "nuclear weapons on German territory do not heighten our security, just the opposite", especially during the

presidency of Donald Trump Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory ...

.Matthew Karnitschnig (3 May 2020)
German Social Democrats tell Trump to take US nukes home
�''

Politico Europe ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the German-owned news organization ''Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices ...

''.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mützenich, Rolf Living people 1959 births Politicians from Cologne Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia University of Bremen alumni Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany