54 Facts About Armin Laschet

Armin Laschet is a German politician who served as Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 27 June 2017 to 26 October 2021.

Armin Laschet served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union from 22 January 2021 to 31 January 2022.

Armin Laschet was elected to the German Bundestag following the 2021 German federal election.

Armin Laschet's Cabinet consisted of members of his own CDU and the liberal Free Democratic Party.

Armin Laschet was born to an observant Roman Catholic family of German-speaking Walloon origin; his father's parents were both of Belgian origin.

Armin Laschet is married to Susanne Malangre, whom he met in a Catholic children's choir when they were children and who is a member of a prominent Aachen political family of French-speaking Walloon origin.

Armin Laschet is a lecturer in political science at the University of Munich.

Armin Laschet was born in Burtscheid, a suburb of Aachen, about three kilometres from the Belgian and Dutch borders, to parents Heinrich Armin Laschet and Marcella nee Frings; he was raised in an observant Roman Catholic family.

Armin Laschet's father was a mining engineer at a black coal mine and later became an elementary school teacher and headmaster.

Armin Laschet maintains close personal ties to Belgium where members of the Armin Laschet family still live.

Armin Laschet attended the Pius-Gymnasium in Aachen and studied law at the universities of Bonn and Munich, passing the first state examination in law in 1987.

Armin Laschet worked as a journalist and in the publishing industry from 1986 until 1991, among other things as Bonn correspondent for Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Armin Laschet later served as editor-in-chief of the Catholic newspaper KirchenZeitung Aachen from 1991 until 1994.

Armin Laschet was elected in the single-member constituency of Aachen I, after the incumbent Hans Stercken retired.

Armin Laschet was on the Committee for Economic Cooperation and Development and on the Committee for European Union Affairs.

Armin Laschet lost re-election in the 1998 SPD landslide to future Health Minister Ulla Schmidt.

Under Minister President Jurgen Ruttgers in North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet served as State Minister for Generations, Family, Women and Integration from 2005 until 2010, and as State Minister for Federal Affairs, Europe and Media from 2010.

When Rottgen resigned from that office in 2012, Armin Laschet was elected as his successor.

Armin Laschet currently serves as state MP in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia and chairs the CDU's state chapter.

In November 2015, Armin Laschet visited the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan to learn more about the plight of Syrians fleeing the violence in the ongoing Syrian civil war that erupted in 2011.

In November 2016, Armin Laschet was elected leading candidate for the North Rhine-Westphalia state elections in May 2017 which he won in what was widely considered an upset victory.

Armin Laschet was a CDU delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2017.

In December 2016, Armin Laschet presided over the CDU's national convention in Essen.

Armin Laschet served as the 11th Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2017 to 2021.

Armin Laschet's government was a coalition between the Christian Democratic Union and the Free Democratic Party.

Armin Laschet named Jens Spahn as his vice-presidential candidate, with Friedrich Merz and Norbert Rottgen as his challengers.

Armin Laschet thus became the new president of the CDU.

Armin Laschet's place was taken by Merz, who finally succeeded in his third attempt, in the election of the party president on 17 December 2021.

Subsequently, following a late-night meeting of the CDU leadership in Berlin, it was announced that in a secret ballot, 77.5 percent of those present at the meeting had finally backed Armin Laschet, compared to just 22.5 percent for Soder.

Subsequently, Armin Laschet tried to "channel" the far greater popularity of his biggest rival within the CDU by recruiting Merz to his campaign team, saying that he "belonged in the team" and that his economic and financial expertise would be crucial in helping them to overcome the huge challenge of the pandemic in a sustainable way.

Already at the party congress in Rhineland-Palatinate in May 2021, Armin Laschet called for the Greens to be the main political opponent in the upcoming election campaign.

Armin Laschet faced another scandal at the end of the month, when it emerged that he, like his fellow Green Party candidate for chancellor Annalena Baerbock, was facing accusations of plagiarism.

Armin Laschet resigned as the Leader of the CDU and was replaced by Friedrich Merz, who had won the leadership contest.

Armin Laschet remained a member of the Bundestag after being re-elected on the North Rhine-Westphalia party list and sat on multiple subcommittees.

Armin Laschet was nominated as the CDU's candidate for his former constituency of Aachen I in the 2025 German federal election.

Armin Laschet has been criticised for hesitancy in efforts to mitigate climate change.

In 2018, shortly after taking over as Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet supported the minister of the environment Christina Schulze Focking's decision to dismantle the state's administrative department for environmental crimes.

On European integration, Armin Laschet seeks to strengthen the European Union on issues such as fighting international terrorism and organized crime, as well as energy policy.

Armin Laschet wants to see the President of the European Commission be elected directly by EU voters.

In 2020 alone, Armin Laschet met with French president Emmanuel Macron three times.

Armin Laschet was a fierce defender of Chancellor Merkel's migration policies during the European migrant crisis of 2015.

In 2016, Armin Laschet dismissed proposals for a so-called burqa ban as a "phony debate" and distraction from more pressing issues.

Ahead of a parliamentary vote in June 2017, Armin Laschet expressed his opposition against Germany's introduction of same-sex marriage, going so far as to say it would be unconstitutional.

In 2018, Armin Laschet described the treehouses protesting the destruction of Hambach forest as "illegally occupied areas" and stated that RWE had the right to clear the forest.

Armin Laschet considers Germany to be insufficiently prepared for global political challenges.

In 2015, Armin Laschet was criticised for not standing up for German interests when it was revealed that US intelligence agencies are illegally spying on German citizens and businesses.

Armin Laschet has voiced support for Nord Stream 2 and for a closer relationship with China and is against excluding Huawei from Germany's 5G network.

However, Germany's Federal Office for Information Security has supported Armin Laschet's position, saying that comprehensive investigations into Huawei's hardware and software have produced no evidence of wrongdoing and that an exclusion is unjustified.

Barkin further argues that Armin Laschet has been against "demonizing" Putin for the Russian annexation of Crimea.

Armin Laschet argued that the Bundeswehr should take on more responsibility in Africa, around the Mediterranean and in Mali.

In 2018, Armin Laschet cancelled his appearances at the Ruhrtriennale arts and music festival due to the festival allowing supporters of the BDS movement to perform.

In 2013, Armin Laschet criticised Westerwelle's demand to release former President Mohammed Mursi after the coup in Egypt in 2013, as minorities and Christians in particular had suffered under Mursi.

Armin Laschet is married to his childhood sweetheart Susanne Malangre, whom he met as a child in a Catholic children's choir led by Susanne's father, prominent business executive Heinrich Malangre; they married in 1985.

Armin Laschet's son Johannes Laschet, who studies law, is a blogger and model, described as a fashion influencer on Instagram.