Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany
In the federal elections of 2009, Westerwelle committed his party to a coalition with Dr Merkel's CDU/CSU, ruling out a coalition with Social Democrats and Greens, and led his party to unprecedented 14.6%. In accordance with earlier announcements, he formed a coalition government with CDU/CSU. On October 28, he was sworn in as Foreign Minister and Vice-Chancellor, becoming the head of the Foreign Office. In 2010 he announced he wouldn't be taking his male partner to hostile countries.
His deputies at the Foreign Office are Werner Hoyer and Cornelia Pieper as Ministers of State. Hoyer previously held the same office in the Cabinet Kohl V.
By May 2011 however his party had collapsed in several states, including Rhineland-Palatinate and Bremen where they failed to secure the 5% threshold necessary for a seat in parliament. Westerwelle then stepped down as party leader. By July the party was only receiving 3% support in opinion polls, a record low, reflecting what political insiders had called his "last stand" in January, comparing Westerwelle and his party to Captain Ahab and the Pequod.
In July 2011 Westerwelle was the President of the United Nations Security Council as he headed the German delegation to the United Nations.
Read more about this topic: Guido Westerwelle
Famous quotes containing the words foreign, minister, vice, chancellor and/or germany:
“Insurrection—by means of guerrilla bands—is the true method of warfare for all nations desirous of emancipating themselves from a foreign yoke ... It is invincible, indestructible.”
—Giuseppe Mazzini (1805–1872)
“Rosalynn said, “Jimmy, if we could only get Prime Minister Begin and President Sadat up here on this mountain for a few days, I believe they might consider how they could prevent another war between their countries.” That gave me the idea, and a few weeks later, I invited both men to join me for a series of private talks. In September 1978, they both came to Camp David.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“Lord, Lord, how subject we old men are to this vice of lying!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“No woman in my time will be Prime Minister or Chancellor or Foreign Secretary—not the top jobs. Anyway I wouldn’t want to be Prime Minister. You have to give yourself 100%.”
—Margaret Thatcher (b. 1925)
“By an application of the theory of relativity to the taste of readers, to-day in Germany I am called a German man of science, and in England I am represented as a Swiss Jew. If I come to be regarded as a bête noire the descriptions will be reversed, and I shall become a Swiss Jew for the Germans and a German man of science for the English!”
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955)