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CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN SECRET SECRET//NOFORN UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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### Viewing cable 09BERLIN1393, GERMANY'S NEW INTERIOR MINISTER FACES STEEP

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Reference ID | Date | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | ---
09BERLIN1393 | 2009-11-04 12:12 | SECRET//NOFORN | Embassy Berlin

`

    VZCZCXYZ0005
    RR RUEHWEB

    DE RUEHRL #1393/01 3081215
    ZNY SSSSS ZZH
    R 041215Z NOV 09
    FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5677
    INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
    RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
    RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
    RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
    RHEFHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
    RUEKJCS/HQ USEUCOM LO WASHINGTON DC
    RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
    RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
    RUCXONI/ONI WASHINGTON DC
    RUKAAKA/USAREUR ACE DARMSTADT GE
    RUEHRL/USDAO BERLIN GE
    RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC

` `

    S E C R E T BERLIN 001393

    NOFORN
    SIPDIS

    STATE FOR EUR, S/CT, L
    DHS FOR OIA SCARDAVILLE

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/04/2019
    TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL KHLS KJUS GM
    SUBJECT: GERMANY'S NEW INTERIOR MINISTER FACES STEEP
    LEARNING CURVE

    REF: A. BERLIN 1377
         ¶B. BERLIN 1167
         ¶C. BERLIN 988
         ¶D. 2008 BERLIN 1455
         ¶E. 2008 BERLIN 504

    Classified By: Robert A. Pollard, Minister-Counselor for Economic Affai
    rs for Reasons 1.4(b) and (d).

    ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Germany's new federal interior minister,
    Thomas de Maiziere, is known for being a competent
    administrator who performed effectively over the past four
    years as the Chancellery Chief of Staff.  De Maiziere is a
    close confidant of Chancellor Merkel, their professional
    relationship dates back to 1990, and he developed a
    reputation as a reliable crisis manager and interagency
    master over the past four years.  Although de Maiziere
    previously served as a state interior minister in Saxony, he
    has less direct experience dealing with the international
    security issues - most prominently counterterrorism - that he
    will face as federal interior minister.  Furthermore, de
    Maiziere is not known for being ideological or outspoken.  In
    this respect, de Maiziere represents a marked change from his
    predecessor, powerhouse Wolfgang Schaeuble, who had strong
    views on security policy and was willing to endure
    considerable criticism to achieve his policy goals.  We do
    not expect de Maiziere to push for further expanding law
    enforcement powers of police and/or security services.  De
    Maiziere indicates that he intends to focus on integration of
    foreigners into German society and will continue the
    Ministry's Islam Conference, a controversial Schaeuble
    initiative that had advanced the country's discussion on
    immigration and discrimination issues.  He also intends to
    promote the further integration of former east and west
    Germany.  END SUMMARY

    An Aristocratic Westerner Makes His Name in the East
    --------------------------------------------- -------

    ¶2. (U) De Maiziere, 55, is a lawyer by training who was born
    and raised in Bonn, but has spent nearly the last two decades
    in the eastern states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Saxony.
    He is a descendent of the noble Maiziere-les-Metz family who,
    as Huguenots, fled France for asylum in Prussia in the late
    seventeenth century.  De Maiziere's father, Ulrich, was
    Inspector General of the German Armed Forces.  His cousin,
    Lothar, was the last, and only democratically elected,
    Premier of the German Democratic Republic, who later served
    as a minister in the Kohl government.  As a staffer in the
    offices of Berlin Governing Mayor Richard von Weizsacker, and
    later Eberhard Diepgen, de Maiziere participated in the
    negotiations on German reunification.  After 1990, de
    Maiziere worked to re-establish democratic structures in
    eastern states starting first in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
    From 1998 through 2005, de Maiziere served in Saxony as head
    of the State Chancery, and as Finance, Justice and Interior
    Minister.  De Maiziere joined the Christian Democratic Union
    (CDU) as a student in 1972.  De Maiziere won a direct mandate
    in the September 27 national parliamentary election and is
    now a member of the Bundestag representing the district of
    Meissen in Saxony.

    ¶3. (C) De Maiziere first met Angela Merkel in 1990 and his
    recommendation of her to his cousin Lothar de Maiziere is
    said to have facilitated her entry into CDU politics.
    Chancellor Merkel and de Maiziere are known to have a very
    close professional relationship and to share a similar sober
    and analytical approach to governing.  De Maiziere is
    reported to have performed well throughout his tenure as
    Merkel's Chancellery Chief and Minister for Special Duties.
    As Chancellery Chief of Staff, de Maiziere was known as a
    consensus builder who understands and effectively works the

    interagency process, sometimes requiring competing ministers
    to resolve disputes among themselves.  The Chancellor no
    doubt appreciated de Maiziere's efforts to shield her from
    these policy battles given her general propensity to stay
    above the fray and to express an opinion on an issue only
    when consensus has been reached at the cabinet level.

    De Maiziere Faces a Steep Learning Curve
    ----------------------------------------

    ¶4. (C) De Maiziere's experience in eastern Germany helped him
    gain new responsibilities for the Federal Interior Ministry:
    the entire Department of Eastern German affairs has been
    moved from the Transportation and Urban Affairs Ministry to
    the Interior Ministry.  In his remarks to ministry employees
    on his first day in office, de Maiziere said that with this
    move the interior ministry is now responsible for not only
    immigrant integration, but also the integration of Eastern
    and Western Germany and the cohesion of German society.  De
    Maiziere will continue the German Islam Conference, an
    initiative started by his predecessor, which seeks to improve
    the integration of Germany's Muslim population and open a
    dialogue between the government and Germany's Muslim
    community.  The Islam Conference has met with some
    controversy and came under scrutiny earlier this year when it
    was discovered that some Muslim representatives were alleged
    to have links with extremist groups.

    ¶5. (S/NF) De Maiziere has some familiarity with security
    issues given that his duties in the Chancellery included
    overall coordination of Germany's intelligence services.  De
    Maiziere was helpful in promoting cooperation between German
    ministries and security services with USG counterparts both
    during the 2007 Sauerland Islamic Jihad Union terrorist cell
    case and following extremist threats surrounding the recent
    national elections.  De Maiziere's predecessor Wolfgang
    Schaeuble spent considerable time dealing with the issue of
    terrorism and working to update Germany's legal frameworks
    and expand the mandates of law enforcement agencies to ensure
    they had the capabilities to address the phenomena.  In
    contrast, de Maiziere said virtually nothing in public on the
    issue of terrorism during his time in the Chancellery, and he
    has not emphasized the topic since moving to Interior.
    Therefore, there is some question concerning the depth of his
    knowledge of the transnational character of terrorism,
    radicalization pathways, and terrorists' increasing use of
    the Internet and related technology to recruit, train and
    organize, aspects of the issue that most affect Germany today.

    ¶6. (C) During his first day remarks to employees, de Maiziere
    made the peculiar statement that "the Interior Ministry is
    responsible for internal matters, and the Foreign Ministry is
    responsible for issues external to Germany."  This
    characterization of the MoI's tasks contrasts sharply with EU
    law enforcement integration initiatives under Schaeuble such
    as the Pruem data sharing agreement.  Observers are concerned
    that de Maiziere's limited perspective could result in
    diminished bilateral cooperation and mark a significant
    departure from former minister Schaeuble, who placed a heavy
    emphasis throughout his tenure on increasing security
    cooperation with European and other international partners.
    De Maiziere would benefit from learning about the benefits of
    international cooperation first hand from his counterparts at
    the G6 meeting in London this week, which DHS Secretary
    Napolitano and senior DoJ representatives will attend.
    (Note: The G6 is an informal grouping of the interior
    ministers of Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Poland and the
    UK.  Schaeuble made a point of inviting the USG to G6
    meetings that he hosted, a custom that UK Minister Jacqui
    Smith is following for this week's London meeting.  Ref D.)

    Will de Maiziere be a Strong Security Partner?
    --------------------------------------------- -

    ¶7. (C) We do not expect de Maiziere to be aggressive in
    pushing for expanded security powers.  However, there is less
    need for this as two recent legislative packages have already
    strengthened Germany's counterterrorism legal framework (Refs
    C and E).  More relevant is whether de Maiziere will build on
    Schaeuble's record of deepening U.S.-German security
    cooperation, such as the successful negotiations of a
    bilateral "Pruem-like" agreement to exchange information on
    terrorism and serious crime suspects, as well as establish an
    automated fingerprint checking system.  Final implementation
    of our agreement is awaiting resolution of some concerns
    raised by a Green Party Justice Senator from Hamburg.  We
    will likely need support from de Maiziere to break this
    impasse, but it is unclear whether de Maiziere is willing to
    make the effort on an initiative that his predecessor
    initiated and for which he received heavy criticism due to
    data privacy concerns.  On the issue of resettlement of
    Guantanamo detainees, de Maiziere has yet to express a
    viewpoint one way or the other.

    ¶8. (C) We anticipate that data protection and domestic
    security issues will be a continuing theme that the new
    coalition government of the Christian Democrats (CDU and CSU)
    and Free Democrats (FDP) will struggle with.  During the
    previous administration, the FDP regularly criticized former
    interior minister Schaeuble for policies which the FDP
    believed trampled on citizens' privacy rights (Ref B).
    Germany's new Justice Minister Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger
    (FDP) believes that Schaeuble went too far in giving police
    new powers of investigation, and she was successful in
    committing the new government to modify a number of these
    powers and introducing added data protection measures in the
    recently completed coalition agreement (Ref A).  The FDP has
    found it politically expedient to cast personal freedoms and
    security policy as mutually exclusive.  In this debate, de
    Maiziere's greatest advantage is that he is not Schaeuble.
    As Interior Minister, de Maiziere is expected to support
    existing laws and practices initiated by his predecessor, and
    his reputation for reasonableness and consensus-building
    should serve him well in these discussions.
    MURPHY

`