You Should Know...
Hans-Ulrich Klose, Chairman of the German-American Parliamentary Group
First elected to the German Bundestag in 1983, Hans-Ulrich Klose is a Social Democratic Party member and currently serves as a member of the German Bundestag. He was elected as vice-president of the Bundestag in 1994 before becoming the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in 1998. He is presently a substitute member of the Committee on Affairs of the European Union, and a chairman and speaker for the German American Parliamentary Group. In terms of foreign policy, his focus is on relations between Russia and the EU, transatlantic relations, and the role that Germany plays and needs to play in the world.
Hans-UlrichKlose supports increasing efforts to improve relations with Russia, ultimatelyworking toward accepting Russia as an ally of Europe.
He is also aproponent of increasing Germany’s role in conflict resolution and taking actionto preserve human rights. Theseactions, as stated in a speech to the Bundestag concerning the recent electionsin Iran, include opening up new channels of dialog (http://www.hans-ulrich-klose.de). In an interview that covered human rightsin Africa, Klose supported sending 100,000 troops to east Congo to preventgenocide (www.derspiegel.de, 22.11.08).
Priorpolitical experience and accomplishments include acting as the first mayor ofHamburg in 1974 and founding the Technical University of Hamburg. He was educated at the Universities ofFreiburg and Hamburg, where he studied law. He is now married to his third wife and has two daughters andtwo sons from previous marriages.
