Martin Schirdewan
MEP
Schirdewan in 2023
Leader of The Left
Assumed office
25 June 2022
Serving with Janine Wissler
DeputyAtes Gürpinar
Lorenz Gösta Beutin
Katina Schubert
Jana Seppelt
Preceded bySusanne Hennig-Wellsow
Leader of The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL
Assumed office
18 July 2019
Serving with Manon Aubry
Preceded byGabriele Zimmer
Member of the European Parliament
for Germany
Assumed office
8 November 2017
Preceded byFabio De Masi
Personal details
Born (1975-07-12) 12 July 1975
East Berlin, East Germany (now Berlin, Germany)
Political partyThe Left
Children1
Relatives
Alma materFree University of Berlin (Dr. rer. pol.)
Occupation
  • Politician
  • Journalist
  • Political Staffer
WebsiteOfficial website

Martin Schirdewan (born 12 July 1975) is a German journalist and politician who has been serving as co-chairman of The Left since June 2022. He has sat as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2017, and was elected co-chair of The Left in the European Parliament (GUE/NGL) parliamentary group in 2019.[1]

Political career

Schirdewan was born in East Berlin. From 1998 to 2003, he studied at the Free University of Berlin, before achieving a doctorate in political science in 2007.[2]

Between 2001 and 2008, Schirdewan was editor of the magazine Utopie kreativ (Creative Utopia), published by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. From 2006 until 2015, he was a researcher for a Bundestag member from The Left and was senior editor of Sacco & Vanzetti, the youth magazine of socialist daily newspaper Neues Deutschland. From 2015 until his appointment to the European Parliament, he was head of the Brussels office of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and of its Athens "liaison office", as well as establishing a liaison office in Madrid. From 2012 to 2015 and again in 2018, Schirdewan served on the party executive of The Left.[2] Since being appointed to the European Parliament, Schirdewan has served as a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON), and as a substitute for the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO).[1]

Schirdewan was one of The Left's top candidates in the 2019 European Parliament election in Germany alongside Özlem Demirel.[3] The party won 5.5% of votes and five seats, making it the joint second largest party in the GUE/NGL group by seat count, behind Syriza and tied with La France Insoumise. In the new Parliament, Schirdewan was elected co-chair of the GUE/NGL faction alongside French MEP Manon Aubry.

At a federal Left congress in June 2022, Schirdewan was elected co-leader of the party with 341 votes (61.3%) alongside incumbent Janine Wissler. He was challenged by several candidates, including Sören Pellmann, who won 176 votes (31.6%).[4][5] Within the party, he is considered a reformer close in outlook to moderates such as Dietmar Bartsch.[6]

Political positions

On 2 March 2022, Schirdewan was one of 13 MEPs who voted against a motion condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He stated that, though he condemned the invasion as a blatant breach of international law, he opposed arms shipments to Ukraine on the grounds that it violated EU directives on exports to war and crisis zones.[7]

On 15 September 2022, he was first one of 28 MEPs who voted abstain,[8] then one of 19 MEPs who voted against[9] in a resolution condemning President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua for human rights violations, in particular the arrest of Bishop Rolando Álvarez.[10][11]

Personal life

Schirdewan is a grandson of East German politician Karl Schirdewan and his wife Gisela. [12]

References

  1. 1 2 "Martin Schirdewan". European Parliament. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Curriculum vitae — Martin Schirdewan". European Parliament. 5 December 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  3. ↑ "Top duo for the European elections 2019". The Left (in German). 24 September 2018. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019.
  4. ↑ "Janine Wissler and Martin Schirdewan form the new Left leadership". Der Spiegel (in German). 26 June 2022.
  5. ↑ ": Wissler und Schirdewan neue Parteichefs". ZDF (in German). 25 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  6. ↑ "The reformer who is supposed to save The Left". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 26 June 2022.
  7. ↑ Crowcroft, Orlando (3 March 2022). "MEPs were asked to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 13 voted no. Here's why". World Today News. Retrieved 29 June 2022. 'The intended delivery of lethal equipment to the Ukrainian army worth 450 million euros ultimately means the final departure from the common position of the EU arms export directives, which prohibit arms exports to war and crisis zones. These arms exports are a breach of taboo in European foreign policy,' it said.
  8. ↑ "Detail of resolution B9-0383/2022, first version". mepwatch.eu. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  9. ↑ "Detail of resolution B9-0383/2022, second version". mepwatch.eu. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "European Parliament condemns growing repression of Catholic Church in Nicaragua, calls for release of bishop".
  11. ↑ "Nicaragua, in particular the arrest of the bishop Rolando Álvarez" (PDF).
  12. ↑ Reinhard Kärbsch (May 2014). "1. Mai in Hoyerswerda" (PDF). Lausitzer Linksdruck (in German). Vol. 5, no. 52. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 June 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2020. Ich bin ein Enkel von Opa Karl. ... Ich habe mit ihm zusammengelebt. Wir saßen an Frühstücks- und anderen Tischen zusammen und haben uns über Politisches und Geschichtliches unterhalten, gestritten und oft unsere unterschiedlichen Ansichten behalten. Aber die kritische, wissenschaftliche Analyse sozialer, wirtschaftlicher und sonstiger gesellschaftlicher Prozesse als Grundlage des politischen Handelns, das hat er mir vermittelt.
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