Volker Rühe

From 1976 to 2005 Rühe was a member of the German Bundestag. After the Christian Democrats returned to power in 1982, he joined the CDU/CSU parliamentary group's leadership under its new chairman Alfred Dregger.

Under the leadership of CDU chairman and Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Rühe held the position of Secretary General of his party from 1989 until 1992, including during the period of German reunification.[https://web.archive.org/web/20161221163316/http://carnegieendowment.org/specialprojects/EuroAtlanticSecurityInitiativeEASI/EASICommissionMembers Members of the Commission] Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative (EASI), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In this capacity, he succeeded Heiner Geissler and was put in charge of administrative matters and electoral tactics.William Tuohy (23 August 1989), [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-08-23-mn-896-story.html Kohl Names New Party Aide Amid Flap Over Campaign Tactics] Los Angeles Times. At a party convention in late 1992, the CDU surprisingly replaced Rühe with Heinz Eggert, a representative from East Germany, as one of Kohl's four deputies.Craig R. Whitney (5 November 1992), [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/05/world/bonn-journal-berliners-await-the-return-of-a-capital-and-wait.html Berliners Await the Return of a Capital. And Wait.] New York Times.

As Germany's longest-serving defense minister, Rühe oversaw the country's integration of the former East German army, expanded Germany's role within NATO and was an early proponent of NATO's expansion eastward. He also proposed more spending on defense[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB951687406708643802 The Schleswig-Holstein Question] Wall Street Journal, 28 February 2000. and won public backing as well as cross-party support for a Bundeswehr role in international peacekeeping, thus overcoming a German aversion to the use of force—in any circumstances—prevalent after 1945.[http://www.economist.com/node/162034 Volker Rühe, Germany’s next foreign minister?] The Economist, 20 August 1998.

During his time in office, German military forces were engaged in numerous UN-linked operations outside the NATO region, including 1,700 soldiers in Somalia (logistic support); 122 in Cambodia (medical unit); two ships with combined crews totaling 420 people in the Adriatic Sea (air-navy patrol); 60 in Bosnia-Herzegovina (relief flights), and 40 in Iraq (UN monitoring staff).Tyler Marshall (16 October 1993), [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-10-16-mn-46402-story.html A Death in Cambodia, an Uproar in Germany] Los Angeles Times.

Rühe frequently expressed frustration with restrictions on German troops joining international peacekeeping missions, and faced public criticism of the increasing deployment of German military forces abroad. In 1992, the SPD (unsuccessfully) filed a legal challenge in the Federal Constitutional Court, arguing that the deployment of German forces in the Adriatic violated their constitutional limits on their use.Carl Schoettler (23 July 1992), [https://www.baltimoresun.com/1992/07/23/german-chancellor-wins-vote-supporting-adriatic-force-to-monitor-embargo/ German chancellor wins vote supporting Adriatic force to monitor embargo] Baltimore Sun. Later, Rühe had to inform the German public in October 1993 about the death of Sgt. Alexander Arndt, a 26-year-old army medic; Arndt had become the first German soldier to die on duty in an area of tension since World War II after he was shot by an unknown assailant in Cambodia.Tyler Marshall (16 October 1993), [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-10-16-mn-46402-story.html A Death in Cambodia, an Uproar in Germany] Los Angeles Times.

Under Rühe's leadership, Germany began destroying stockpiles of tanks and other heavy weapons in August 1992, becoming the first country to implement the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-08-04-mn-5080-story.html Germany Begins Cutbacks Under Weapons Treaty] Los Angeles Times, 4 August 1992. After failing narrowly to stop the Eurofighter Typhoon project when he took office in 1992, Rühe negotiated down the number of aircraft the air force ordered, as well as the cost of each.[http://www.economist.com/node/597686 A new pilot?] The Economist, 19 June 1997. In 1993, he canceled plans to buy Lapas, a $1 billion American-designed high-altitude reconnaissance system, after it was revealed that the system's German subcontractor was at the center of a political scandal about reported bribery of Bavarian Minister-President Max Streibl.Craig R. Whitney (4 February 1993), [https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/04/world/germans-cancel-big-us-purchase.html Germans Cancel Big U.S. Purchase] New York Times.

In 1997, Rühe suspended a lieutenant general and instituted disciplinary action against a colonel after it was revealed that Manfred Roeder, a neo-Nazi with a criminal record of bombings, had been invited to give a speech to the country's most prestigious military academy in 1995.Alan Cowell (16 December 1997), [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/16/world/first-army-neo-nazis-now-racists-on-internet-worry-germany.html First, Army Neo-Nazis, Now Racists on Internet Worry Germany] New York Times.

Between 1998 and 2000, Rühe served as the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

By 2000, Rühe was considered a potential opponent of Angela Merkel for the CDU leadership; however, he eventually dropped out of the race.Roger Cohen (18 March 2000), [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/18/world/a-political-newcomer-breaks-rules-in-germany.html A Political Newcomer Breaks Rules in Germany] New York Times.

In 2004, Rühe from the opposition was named by the government of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to lead Germany's campaign for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.Jeffrey Gedmin (15 October 2004), [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/16/world/first-army-neo-nazis-now-racists-on-internet-worry-germany.html National interest is behind Germany's UN bid] Financial Times.Ralf Neukirch (16 September 2010), [http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/dream-of-influence-germany-renews-campaign-for-un-security-council-seat-a-717489.html Germany Renews Campaign for UN Security Council Seat] Der Spiegel. That same year, Schröder sent Rühe to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin on the Orange Revolution.Benjamin Bidder (20 March 2014), [http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/krim-krise-volker-ruehe-ueber-putins-versagen-a-959765.html Ex-Verteidigungsminister Rühe: "Putin hat versagt"] Der Spiegel. Between 2014 and 2015, he headed a crossparty committee to review the country's parliamentary rules on military deployments.Jan Techau (17 June 2014), [http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/?fa=55928 Germany’s Budding Defense Debate] Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

• Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Senior AdvisorAndreas Förster (9 May 2012), [http://www.fr.de/kultur/literatur/gazprom-putin-und-seine-komplizen-a-839438 Gazprom: Putin und seine Komplizen] Frankfurter Rundschau.
• Hamburg-Mannheimer Versicherungs-AG, Member of the Advisory BoardMathew D. Rose (7 May 2005), [http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/unternehmensbeiraete-geschacher-hinter-der-mauer-des-schweigens-a-355096.html Unternehmensbeiräte Geschacher hinter der Mauer des Schweigens] Spiegel Online.

• International Crisis Group, Member of the Board[http://www.intl-crisis-group.org/about/board.cfm Board] International Crisis Group.
• European Leadership Network (ELN), Member of the Advisory Board, Member of the Task Force on Cooperation in Greater Europe[http://www.europeanleadershipnetwork.org/task-force-on-cooperation-in-greater-europe-membership_2300.html Task Force on Cooperation in Greater Europe] European Leadership Network (ELN).
• Atlantik-Brücke Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees[https://www.atlantik-bruecke.org/stiftung/ Board of Trustees] Atlantik-Brücke.
• German Civil Service Federation, Member

Domestically, Rühe was an outspoken advocate of tighter immigration laws.Stephen Kinzer (2 September 1992), [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/02/world/german-unrest-expected-to-bring-tightening-of-law-on-immigration.html German Unrest Expected to Bring Tightening of Law on Immigration] New York Times.

In 2000, as part of the search for a new chair of the CDU, Rühe led an effort to stop frontrunner Angela Merkel that included overtures to Kurt Biedenkopf to serve as an interim leader.John Schmid (7 March 2000), [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/07/news/2-kohl-party-contenders-have-strong-ties-to-excommunist-region-german.html 2 Kohl Party Contenders Have Strong Ties to Ex-Communist Region: German Politics Opens Up to the East] New York Times. Ahead of the party's leadership election in 2018, Biedenkopf publicly endorsed Friedrich Merz to succeed Merkel as chair.Christoph von Marschall Mathias Müller von Blumencron (10 February 2019), [https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/ex-verteidigungsminister-volker-ruehe-guttenberg-hat-die-bundeswehr-zerstoert/23968822.html Ex-Verteidigungsminister Volker Rühe: "Guttenberg hat die Bundeswehr zerstört"] Der Tagesspiegel.Stephan Detjen (4 November 2018), [https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/ex-cdu-generalsekretaer-ruehe-merz-eroeffnet-der-cdu.868.de.html?dram:article_id=432278 "Merz eröffnet der CDU wesentlich bessere Wahlchancen"] Deutschlandfunk.

In 1985, Rühe strongly urged that Europe's four major powers – France, Britain, Italy and West Germany – formulate a common European position on the Reagan Administration's Strategic Defense Initiative.[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-05-08-mn-6650-story.html 4 Moving Up: Key German Leaders of the Postwar Generation] Los Angeles Times, 8 May 1985.

In 1995, Rühe withdrew an invitation for his Moscow counterpart, Pavel Grachev, to visit Germany after Grachev insulted leading critics of the war in Chechnya. At the time, this was regarded as throwing into question German-Russian military cooperation on European security issues following the country's reunification.Sonni Efron (23 January 1995), [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-23-mn-23439-story.html Chechen War Drives Wedge Between Russia, Germany] Los Angeles Times. During the Grozny ballistic missile attack in 1999, Rühe called for freezing Western loans to Russia.[http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9910/23/russia.chechnya.03/ Chechens say they downed 2 jets; Moscow denies claim] CNN, 23 October 1999.

In 2010, Rühe wrote [https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/open-letter-it-s-time-to-invite-russia-to-join-nato-a-682287.html an open letter] explaining the strategy of including Russia into NATO to counter balance asian powers.

In 2013, Rühe appeared alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and François Fillon[https://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2013/09/valdai-conference Valdai Conference: Russia's identity and values] The Economist, 20 September 2013. at the Valdai Discussion Club. He was quoted by Neue Presse expressing sympathy for Putin and arguing for an intensive dialogue between the German government and "the Kremlin" on the subject of the American proposed "missile defense system". "We are talking as if Iran already had nuclear weapons... we can't continue with deterrence, like during the Cold War." In 2015, he joined other foreign policy experts, including Igor Ivanov and Ana Palacio, in calling for a possible Memorandum of Understanding between NATO and the Russian Federation on the Rules of Behaviour for the Safety of Air and Maritime Encounters between the two sides.[http://europe.newsweek.com/urgently-wanted-protocol-keep-russia-and-west-slipping-war-334463 Urgently Wanted: A Protocol to Keep Russia and the West From Slipping Into War] Newsweek, 10 October 2015.Robin Emmott (26 August 2015), [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-russia-nato-idUSKCN0QV0TT20150826 Russia, NATO need new rules to cut risk of war, ex-ministers say] Reuters.

In a 2019 interview, Rühe blamed his successor Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg for "having destroyed the Bundeswehr".Christoph von Marschall Mathias Müller von Blumencron (10 February 2019), [https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/ex-verteidigungsminister-volker-ruehe-guttenberg-hat-die-bundeswehr-zerstoert/23968822.html Ex-Verteidigungsminister Volker Rühe: "Guttenberg hat die Bundeswehr zerstört"] Der Tagesspiegel.

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-off}}

{{succession box|

| title = Federal Minister of Defence (Germany)

| before = Gerhard Stoltenberg

| after = Rudolf Scharping

| years = 1992 – 1998

}}

{{s-end}}

{{Navboxes

|title=Volker Rühe navigation boxes

|list =

{{Cabinet Kohl IV}}

{{Cabinet Kohl V}}

{{Defence Ministers of Germany}}

{{Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}

{{Members of the 8th Bundestag}}

{{Members of the 9th Bundestag}}

{{Members of the 10th Bundestag}}

{{Members of the 11th Bundestag}}

{{Members of the 12th Bundestag}}

{{Members of the 13th Bundestag}}

{{Members of the 14th Bundestag}}

{{Members of the 15th Bundestag}}

}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruhe, Volker}}

Category:1942 births

Category:Living people

Category:Members of the Bundestag for Hamburg

Category:Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005

Category:Members of the Bundestag 1998–2002

Category:Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998

Category:Members of the Bundestag 1990–1994

Category:Members of the Bundestag 1987–1990

Category:Members of the Bundestag 1983–1987

Category:Members of the Bundestag 1980–1983

Category:Members of the Bundestag 1976–1980

Category:Defence ministers of Germany

Category:Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany