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Boris Pistorius, born on March 14, 1960, is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who has been serving as the Federal Minister of Defence in the cabinet of Chancellor Olaf Scholz since January 19, 2023.
Boris Pistorius’s Biography
Pistorius was born in Osnabrück, Germany, as the second son of Ursula and Ludwig Pistorius. His mother was a member of the local council of Osnabrück as well as the Lower Saxony Landtag.
After finishing his abitur at the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Gymnasium, Pistorius joined the Bundeswehr before studying law at the Universities of Münster and Osnabrück.
Pistorius began his political career as a personal aide to Gerhard Glogowski, the State Minister for the Interior of Lower Saxony. He rose through the ranks to become the deputy head of Glogowski’s office.
Pistorius joined the SPD in 1976 and served on the Osnabrück municipal council from 1996 to 2013. During this time, he also served as Osnabrück’s second mayor and eventually became mayor of Osnabrück in 2006.
Pistorius was sworn in as State Minister of the Interior and Sports in the Lower Saxony state cabinet in 2013, following the Lower Saxony state elections.
He also represented the state in the German Bundesrat, where he served as a member until 2017 before becoming an alternative.
During his presidency, Pistorius was recognised for taking a harsh stance on topics such as Islamist radicalism, terror threats, organised crime, and far-right extremism.
Pistorius was also involved in national politics. He was a member of the internal and legal affairs working group during the 2017 coalition government discussions led by Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Pistorius ran for the role of SPD co-chair in the 2019 leadership election but finished sixth. Later, during the discussions for a traffic light coalition following the German elections in 2021, he led his party’s delegation in the working group on migration and integration.
Pistorius was named Federal Minister of Defence in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s cabinet on January 19, 2023, following Christine Lambrecht. Many people were surprised by his appointment, as other names were frequently discussed as potential replacements.
Pistorius has subsequently announced considerable military assistance to Ukraine and has attended joint cabinet meetings with leaders from other nations.
Pistorius has been on business boards and is interested in non-profit organisations outside of politics. He has also taken stances on matters like sanctions against Russia and the removal of extremist content from chat apps.
Pistorius had two daughters from his previous marriage, and his wife Sabine died of cancer in 2015. From 2016 to spring 2022, he was in a relationship with Doris Schröder-Köpf, and he is currently in a relationship with Julia Schwanholz, a professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen.
Pistorius has received numerous honours and medals throughout his career, including the Portuguese Order of Merit and the Schlesierschild of the Landsmannschaft Schlesien.
What Is Boris Pistorius’s Political Party?
Boris Pistorius’s political party is the social democratic party of which he has been a member since 1976 till date.
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