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Johann Wadephul

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Johann Wadephul
Wadephul in 2025
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2025
ChancellorFriedrich Merz
Preceded byAnnalena Baerbock
Member of the Bundestag for Rendsburg-Eckernförde
Incumbent
Assumed office
27 September 2009
Preceded byOtto Bernhardt
Member of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein
In office
27 February 2000 – 27 September 2009
Personal details
Born (1963-02-10) 10 February 1963 (age 62)
Husum, West Germany
Political partyChristian Democratic Union (since 1982)
Children3
EducationMeldorfer Gelehrtenschule
Alma materKiel University (Dr. iur.)
OccupationLawyer, Politician, Diplomat
Military service
Allegiance Germany
Branch/service Bundeswehr
Years of service1982–1986
RankLieutenant colonel (reserves)

Johann Walter David Rudolf "Jo" Wadephul (German: [ˈjoːhan ˈvaːdəˌfuːl];[1] born 10 February 1963) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz since 2025.[2]

He has been a member of the German Parliament since 2009, where he also served as deputy chair of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group from 2017 until 2025. Previously, he was chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein from 2005.[3]

Early life and education

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Wadephul was born in Husum, Schleswig-Holstein, to teachers Werner and Karin (née Schäfer).[4] He attended primary school in Nordhastedt before attending the Meldorfer Gelehrtenschule gymnasium, where he graduated in 1982.[5] From 1982 to 1986, he served as a reserve officer in the German Air Force at the Rendsburg base. In 1986, he retired as a first lieutenant and later rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel (retired).[6] In 1986, he began studying law at the Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel, completing his studies in 1991 with the First State Examination.

From 1992 to 1993, Wadephul received a scholarship from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.[7] From 1993 to 1995, he worked as a legal trainee in the Kiel Regional Court. In 1995, he passed his Second State Examination and, in March 1996, earned his doctorate at the University of Kiel under Professor Dieter Reuter with a dissertation on The Agreements Between Company Partners.[8]

Since 1995, Wadephul has practiced law, initially in Lübeck before establishing his own firm in Neumünster in 2001. He qualified as a specialist lawyer in medical law and social law in 2009, and has since worked with law firms in both Neumünster and Berlin.[9]

Political career

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Wadephul on a 2000 election poster

Career in state politics

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Wadephul joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its youth wing, the Youth Union, in 1982.

From 1993, Wadephul was a member of the leadership of the CDU in Schleswig-Holstein. He served as Secretary General of the CDU in the state from 1997 to 2000, under the leadership of party chairman Peter Kurt Würzbach. From 2000 until 2002, he briefly chaired the party in Schleswig-Holstein, but was soon succeeded by Peter Harry Carstensen. During his time as chairman, he publicly endorsed Edmund Stoiber as the party's candidate to challenge incumbent Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in the 2002 federal elections.[10]

Following the 2000 state elections, Wadephul also became a Member of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein, where he succeeded Carstensen as chairman of the CDU parliamentary group when the party won the 2005 elections. He did not run for re-election in 2009.

Member of the German Bundestag, 2009–present

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Wadephul has been a Member of the German Bundestag since the 2009 elections, representing the Rendsburg-Eckernförde district.

Wadephul first served on the Committee on Labour and Social Affairs. From the 2013 elections, he was the chairman of the Committee on the Scrutiny of Elections, Immunity and the Rules of Procedure. In addition, he served as member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and of the parliament's Council of Elders, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigning committee chairpersons based on party representation.

On the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Wadephul was his parliamentary group's rapporteur on relations with the Middle East, Arab states of the Persian Gulf and Iran. He also covered issues related to Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and the Western Balkans. In addition to his committee assignments, he served as Deputy Chairman of the German-Belarusian Parliamentary Friendship Group.

In the negotiations to form a coalition government under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Wadephul was part of the working group on foreign policy, led by Ursula von der Leyen, Gerd Müller and Sigmar Gabriel. He has since been serving as deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group under the leadership of successive chairs Volker Kauder (2017–2018), Ralph Brinkhaus (2018–2022) and Friedrich Merz (2022–present); in this capacity, he succeeded Franz Josef Jung.

In addition to his work in parliament, Wadephul has been a member of the German delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) since 2010. As member of the CDU, he is part of the Group of the European People's Party. Since joining the Assembly, he has served on various committees, including Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs and the Sub-Committee on Ethics. Since 2022, he has also been a member of the German delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, where he is part of the Political Committee.[11]

For the 2021 elections, Wadephul was elected to lead the CDU campaign in Schleswig-Holstein for the fourth consecutive time.[12]

Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs (2025–present)

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Wadephul with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Antalya, Turkey, 15 May 2025

On 6 May 2025, Wadephul was sworn in as Foreign Minister by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier alongside the rest of the Merz cabinet.[13]

The following day, he accompanied chancellor Friedrich Merz on his trip to Paris meeting his counter part, French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot. Later that day he met with Radosław Sikorski in Warsaw.[14]

Other activities

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Political positions

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In June 2017, Wadephul voted against his parliamentary group's majority and in favor of Germany's introduction of same-sex marriage.[18]

In 2019, Wadephul joined 14 members of his parliamentary group who, in an open letter, called for the party to rally around Merkel and party chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer against criticism voiced by conservatives Friedrich Merz and Roland Koch.[19]

In April 2020, Wadephul co-signed – alongside around 50 other members of his parliamentary group – a letter to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen which called on the European Union to take in children who were living in migrant camps across Greece.[20][21]

Ahead of the Christian Democrats' leadership election in 2021, Wadephul publicly endorsed Norbert Röttgen to succeed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as the party's chair.[22]

In a 2023 interview with the German newspaper "Tagesspiegel", he advocated that Ukraine be allowed to use the weapons supplied by Germany, among others, on Russian territory.[23]

Wadephul supported the export of German weapons to Israel during the Gaza war. He said that "we must work to ensure that excessive and unjustified criticism of Israel is avoided. This is true of many resolutions in UN bodies that are one-sided against Israel and have a clear anti-Israel, if not anti-Semitic, motivation."[24]

Taurus leak incident

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In February 2025 Wadephul was called by the Russian comedy duo Vovan and Lexus, pretending to be employees of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In the 20-minute call, he leaked information about military support and thoughts about the possible delivery of Taurus cruise missiles.[25]

Personal life

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Wadephul is married and has three children.[26] The family lives in Molfsee.

References

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  1. ^ "Dr. Johann Wadephul, Kandidat für Rendsburg-Eckernförde". YouTube. CDU Schleswig-Holstein. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
  2. ^ "SPD stellt Minister vor: Bärbel Bas soll Arbeitsministerin werden, Stefanie Hubig übernimmt Justiz". Der Spiegel (in German). 5 May 2025. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  3. ^ "Meine Aufgabenfelder". Dr. Johann Wadephul (in German). Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  4. ^ "Johann Wadephul". Geschichte der CDU (in German). 10 February 1963. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  5. ^ "Johann Wadephul - Munzinger Biographie". www.munzinger.de. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  6. ^ "Johann Wadephul - Munzinger Biographie". www.munzinger.de. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  7. ^ "Johann Wadephul". Geschichte der CDU (in German). 10 February 1963. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  8. ^ "Johann Wadephul - Munzinger Biographie". www.munzinger.de. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  9. ^ "Kanzlei Dr. Johann Wadephul Fachanwalt für Medizin- und Sozialrecht". starofservice (in German). Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  10. ^ So ist die Stimmung in den Landesverbänden Spiegel Online, 10 January 2002.
  11. ^ Johann Wadephul NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
  12. ^ SH: Johann Wadephul CDU-Spitzenkandidat für Bundestagswahl Norddeutscher Rundfunk, 12 June 2021.
  13. ^ Marsh, Sarah; Rinke, Andreas (5 May 2025). "Merz vows to reform Germany as his full cabinet unveiled". Reuters. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  14. ^ von Nahmen, Alexandra (8 May 2025). "Germany's new Foreign Minister Wadephul makes EU debut". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  15. ^ Members in Germany European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
  16. ^ Board German-Arab Friendship Association (DAFG).
  17. ^ German Members Archived 4 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine Petersburger Dialog.
  18. ^ Diese Unionsabgeordneten stimmten für die Ehe für alle Die Welt, 30 June 2017.
  19. ^ Jens Schneider (30 October 2019), Machtkampf in der CDU: Abgeordnete nennen parteiinterne Kritik "extrem schädlich" Süddeutsche Zeitung.
  20. ^ Charlotte Raskopf (6 April 2020), 50 CDU-Abgeordnete fordern Aufnahme von Flüchtlingskindern aus griechischen Lagern Handelsblatt.
  21. ^ Robert Roßmann (6 April 2020), Mehr als 50 Unionsabgeordnete fordern Aufnahme von Flüchtlingskindern Süddeutsche Zeitung.
  22. ^ CDU-Machtkampf: Röttgen macht Ellen Demuth zur »Nummer zwei« Der Spiegel, 3 December 2020.
  23. ^ Ukraine den Waffen-Einsatz in Russland erlauben? CDU-Politiker dafür« Berliner Zeitung, 13 May 2023.
  24. ^ "Johann Wadephul: Germany must never deny Israel weapons for self-defense". Körber Foundation. 2025.
  25. ^ "CDU-Politiker Wadephul wird Opfer von russischem Fakeanruf". Der Spiegel (in German). 5 February 2025. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  26. ^ Johann Wadephul, Bundestag.de
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