| Dr. Klaus Kinkel | |
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Member of Parliament
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| In office 1994 – 2002 |
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| Constituency | None |
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Chairman of the FDP
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| In office 1993 – 1995 |
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| Preceded by | Otto Graf Lambsdorff |
| Succeeded by | Wolfgang Gerhardt |
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| Born | December 17, 1936 |
| Political party | FDP |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Dr. Klaus Kinkel (born December 17, 1936) is a German civil servant, lawyer, and politician of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP). He served as Federal Minister of Justice (1991–1992), Foreign Minister (1992–1998) and Vice Chancellor of Germany (1993–1998) in the government of Helmut Kohl. He was also chairman of the liberal Free Democratic Party from 1993 to 1995. Previously, he was President of the Federal Intelligence Service (1979–1982).
As Foreign Minister, Kinkel took a clear stance to end the atrocities committed during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, and proposed the creation of the ICTY[1].
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Education
The son of a doctor, he was born in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, into a Catholic family. He took his Abitur at the Staatliches Gymnasium Hechingen and studied law at the universities of Tübingen, Bonn and Cologne. He became a member of A.V. Guestfalia Tübingen, a Catholic student fraternity that is member of the Cartellverband. Kinkel took his first juristic state exam at Tübingen, the second in Stuttgart and earned a doctorate of law in 1964.
Early career as a civil servant
He was first employed as a civil servant in the state of Baden-Württemberg, until he was employed at the Federal Ministry for the Interior in 1968. There, he was personal secretary for the Federal Minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, from 1970 to 1974, and eventually the head of the Minister's bureau. After Genscher was appointed Foreign Minister in 1974, Kinkel had senior positions in the Foreign Ministry, as head of the Leitungsstab and the Planungsstab.
President of the Federal Intelligence Service
From 1979 to 1982 he was president of the Federal Intelligence Service.
Secretary of state
From 1982 to 1991, he was secretary of state in the Federal Ministry of Justice.
Cabinet member and party chairman of the FDP
He became a member of FDP in 1991. He was Federal Minister of Justice from January 18, 1991 to May 18, 1992, and was then Minister of Foreign Affairs to October 26, 1998. From January 21, 1993, he was also Vice Chancellor of Germany. He resigned as Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor after the government's defeat in the 1998 federal election.
From 1993 to 1995 he was chairman of the FDP.
Tenure as Foreign Minister
During his tenure as Foreign Minister, he made substantial efforts to end the atrocities committed by Serbs in the Balkan Wars. The former President of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milošević, claimed during his trial in the Hague, that Kinkel's policy was based on a long-standing objective of German foreign policy and the German liberal party in particular to erase Serbia from the map, citing statements by Kinkel that Germany had to accomplish in Yugoslavia what it had "failed to accomplish twice before," and that "the Serbs should be brought to their knees".[2] In 1992, he proposed the creation of the ICTY.
In 1992, he announced Germany's wish for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Member of Parliament
He was a member of the Bundestag, the Parliament of Germany, from 1994 to 2002. From 1998 to 2002, he was deputy chairman of the FDP faction. Kinkel was elected from the state of Baden-Württemberg.
Life after politics
After leaving government in 1998, he has worked as a lawyer and been engaged in a number of philanthropic activities.
References
- ^ Hazan, Pierre. 2004. Justice in a Time of War: The True Story Behind the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. College Station: Texas A & M University Press
- ^ SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC MAKES HIS OPENING STATEMENT, Andy Wilcoxson, August 31, 2004, w...slobodan-milosevic.org
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dr. Klaus Kinkel |
| Civic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Gerhard Wessel |
President of the Federal Intelligence Service 1979–1982 |
Succeeded by Eberhard Blum |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Hans A. Engelhard |
Federal Minister of Justice 1991–1992 |
Succeeded by Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger |
| Preceded by Hans-Dietrich Genscher |
Foreign Minister of Germany 1992–1998 |
Succeeded by Joschka Fischer |
| Preceded by Jürgen Möllemann |
Vice Chancellor of Germany 1993–1998 |
Succeeded by Joschka Fischer |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Otto Graf Lambsdorff |
Chairman of the Free Democratic Party 1993–1995 |
Succeeded by Wolfgang Gerhardt |
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