Christoph Heusgen was Under-Secretary for Foreign and Security Policy in the German Chancellery from 2005 to 2017, and described as Angela Merkel's most influential foreign policy and security adviser.
20 Facts About Christoph Heusgen
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The son of pharmacists, Christoph Heusgen grew up in Neuss where he graduated from Quirinus-Gymnasium in 1973.
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Christoph Heusgen studied in St Gallen, at Georgia Southern University and at Pantheon-Assas University in Paris, and obtained a doctorate from the University of St Gallen in 1980.
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Christoph Heusgen enjoyed watching football, stating that he was a fan of FC Bayern Munich.
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Christoph Heusgen joined the diplomatic service of West Germany in 1980.
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Christoph Heusgen's first posting was in the press and economic affairs at the Consulate General in Chicago from 1983 to 1986.
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Christoph Heusgen served at the German Embassy in Paris until 1988, before returning to the Federal Foreign Office headquarters in Bonn, where he took on the role of Private Secretary to the Coordinator for German-French Relations Rainer Barzel from 1988 to 1990.
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Christoph Heusgen held the positions of Deputy Head of the special section in charge of negotiations of the Treaty of Maastricht, Deputy Head in charge of European Affairs in the private office of Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel.
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Christoph Heusgen was later appointed Director of the Policy Unit of the High Representative Javier Solana in the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union in Brussels from 1999 to 2005.
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In 2005 Christoph Heusgen became Under-Secretary for Foreign and Security Policy in the German Chancellery.
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Christoph Heusgen was succeeded in 2017 by Jan Hecker, a former judge at the Federal Administrative Court.
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In November 2016 it became known that Christoph Heusgen would succeed Harald Braun as Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations in New York in 2017.
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Christoph Heusgen subsequently served as the President of the United Nations Security Council in April 2019 and took up the post again in July 2020 when Germany assumed the Presidency once more.
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On 6 October 2020, Christoph Heusgen delivered a statement, on behalf of the group of 39 countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, that denounced China for its treatment of ethnic minorities and for its curtailing of freedoms in Hong Kong.
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Later that month, Christoph Heusgen appealed to China to release the former diplomat Michael Kovrig, who has been detained by China since 2018.
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Christoph Heusgen used his last scheduled UN Security Council session, whose official agenda topic was Iran, to call again on China to release Kovrig and the consultant Michael Spavor, who had likewise been detained in 2018.
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Christoph Heusgen is married to fellow career diplomat Ina Christoph Heusgen, and has four children.
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Christoph Heusgen is a fan of FC Bayern Munich and in his free time he runs marathons.
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In 2017, the German tabloid Bild spread leaked information from Russian hacker group Fancy Bear, believed to be linked to Russian intelligence agency GRU, who had hacked into the United Nations' email system and obtained Christoph Heusgen's correspondences, including one which suggested that he helped his wife get a job at the UN.
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Israel's Ambassador to Germany defended Christoph Heusgen saying the accusation was totally inappropriate.