The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) announced the names of the new government members on Monday, with Johann Wadephul appointed as the new Foreign Minister—the first Christian Democrat in this role in almost 60 years. According to Deutsche Welle, Wadephul is an expert on the Balkans. He previously led the Western Balkans Working Group in the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag.
DW recalls a statement from Wadephul in 2022, during a visit by Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Belgrade. At the time, Wadephul criticized Scholz’s approach to asking Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić for Kosovo’s recognition, calling it “amateurish.”
Wadephul stated:
“To tell the Serbian president at a large media conference that the precondition for everything is Kosovo’s recognition according to international law — while this would certainly be desirable — it should come at the end of the process. By doing so now, the process for Serbia has been complicated due to this amateurish approach,” Wadephul commented.
DW reports that with Wadephul as Foreign Minister, there is an opportunity for a “return to a more balanced policy” between Kosovo and Serbia. Boris Mijatović, a Green Party deputy, mentioned to DW that he expects Wadephul to focus on democracy and the rule of law, ensuring that Germany does not facilitate the path of authoritarian regimes into the European Union.
