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Nikolas Löbel

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Nikolas Löbel
Löbel in 2018
Member of the Bundestag
for Baden-Württemberg
In office
24 October 2017 – 10 March 2021
Preceded byEgon Jüttner
Succeeded byKordula Kovac
ConstituencyMannheim
Personal details
Born (1986-05-17) 17 May 1986 (age 38)
Mannheim, West Germany
(now Germany)
Political partyCDU
Alma materSteinbeis-Hochschule Berlin

Nikolas Löbel (born 17 May 1986) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Baden-Württemberg from 2017 to 2021. He resigned in March 2021.[1]

Political career

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In 2012, Löbel was a CDU delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany.

Löbel became a member of the Bundestag after the 2017 German federal election, representing the Mannheim district.[2] In parliament, he served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Subcommittee on Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.[3] In this capacity, he was his parliamentary group's rapporteur on the European Union's Eastern Partnership.

In March 2021, Der Spiegel revealed that a company Löbel owned had earned a €250,000 commission by acting as a middleman between a mask supplier in Baden-Württemberg and two private, China related companies in the state amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Facing public pressure, he subsequently resigned from his parliamentary seat and announced that he was retiring from politics.[4][5]

Other activities

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  • Sparkasse Rhein Neckar Nord, Member of the supervisory board (2017 to 2021)

Political positions

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Following the 2016 Baden-Württemberg state election, Löbel supported the formation of a coalition government of the Green Party and the Christian Democrats under Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann, the first state-level government of the two parties to be headed by a member of the Green Party in German history.[6]

Ahead of the Christian Democrats' leadership election in 2021, Löbel publicly endorsed Jens Spahn to succeed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as the party's chair.[7]

Controversies

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Lobbying for Azerbaijan

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As chairman of the Baden-Württemberg Young Union, Nikolas Löbel came under criticism from both the CDU and Amnesty International, for a planned sponsorship of 2,000 euros by a student network from Azerbaijan at the state parliament of the Baden-Württembe Young Union in 2012, since the student network in question was funded by Azerbaijani state-owned oil and gas company SOCAR and other Azerbaijani companies with ties to its autocratic leader - Ilham Aliyev, who's been criticized for continued and serious violations of human rights.[8] As a result, the sponsorship fell through.[9]

In March 2021 several Bundestag members of the ruling Union coalition became subjects of criminal investigations on the initial suspicion of corruption, for receiving payments from the Azerbaijani Laundromat money laundering scheme,[10][11][12] while others were implicated in allegations of corrupt lobbying practices known as "Caviar diplomacy" in the European Council or what became known as the "Azerbaijan affair" (German: Aserbaidschan-Affäre) in Germany.[13][14]

In this context Löbel's strong advocacy for Azerbaijani interests during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war between Azerbaijan and Armenia raised some eyebrows[15] as Löbel took a one-sided stance backing the position of Azerbaijan in the conflict.[16] He also dismissed criticism of human rights violations in Azerbaijan, stating that it is "not to be compared with a democracy based on the Western model", but "an important strategic partner" for Germany as a natural gas supplier and possible importer of "German products and goods".[17]

"Mask affair" scandal and resignation

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In April 2020, Löbel brokered contracts for protective mask deliveries from China to Germany by Bricon Technology GmbH.[18] According to his own statements, he received a commission of 250,000 euros for this deal.[19] Löbel described this as being in line with the market, but admitted that he lacked sensitivity.[20]

This information became known in the context of a series of articles published by German press in March 2021, revealing how several Bundestag members from the leading Union coalition had brokered deals for PPE with lucrative commissions for themselves,[19][21] which led to intense criticism from members of all parties in the Bundestag, including the CSU/CDU Union and led to what became known as the so-called "Mask Affair" (German: Maskenaffäre) scandal in Germany.[22][23][24]

The first article about Löbel having asked for a commission was published in Der Spiegel on 5 March 2021.[19]  On the same day he stepped down from the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag.[25] On 7 March 2021, in response to the "Mask Affair", he announced that he would resign from his Bundestag mandate as well as his membership of the municipal council in Mannheim on 31 August 2021 and not run again for the Bundestag[26] and he would also end his membership in the CDU / CSU parliamentary group with immediate effect and give up the district chairmanship of the Mannheim CDU.[27] He apologized for having "violated the obligations of his office with his conduct".[28] A number of politicians from different parties criticized him for not giving up his mandate immediately, pointing out that, in addition to regular MP benefits and allowances, he thus keeps his entitlement to an additional year of retirement allowances (German: Altersentschädig) for MPs, noted the independent organization Abanderswatch.de, citing the MPs Act. The CDU federal chairman Armin Laschet criticized his "greed mentality"  and distanced himself from MPs who "had nothing on their minds but to earn money."[29]

On 8 March 2021, in response to political and media pressure, Löbel announced that he was giving up his parliamentary mandate with immediate effect in order to avoid "further damage to his party" shortly before two state elections were about to take place in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate".[30] He left the Bundestag two days later.[31] The CDU district association Mannheim also announced on March 8 that Löbel had resigned from the CDU "with immediate effect".[32] At the end of March 2021, the Stuttgart Public Prosecutor's Office announced that after examining the allegation of "bribery of elected officials" in connection with the mediation of mask business, "due to a lack of initial suspicion, it would refrain from initiating investigative proceedings"; In their opinion, there is "in the present case no direct connection between the private activity and the activity as a member of the Bundestag."[33][34][35]

References

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  1. ^ "German MP Nikolas Löbel resigns over face mask scandal". BBC News. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Nikolas Löbel". CDU/CSU-Fraktion. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  3. ^ "German Bundestag - Foreign Affairs". Deutscher Bundestag. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  4. ^ Guy Chazan (7 March 2021), Germany's CDU rocked by pandemic procurement scandal Financial Times.
  5. ^ Timo Frasch (8 March 2021), Affäre um Corona-Masken: CDU-Politiker Löbel legt Bundestagsmandat nieder Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
  6. ^ Hanna Spanhel (16 April 2016), Koalitionsgespräche in Baden-Württemberg: "Wir haben unseren Status als die Baden-Württemberg-Partei verloren" Süddeutsche Zeitung.
  7. ^ Lukas Eberle, Florian Gathmann, Christoph Hickmann, Timo Lehmann, Veit Medick and Sabrina Winter (9 October 2020), Kampf um CDU-Parteivorsitz: "Hinter Spahn können sich alle versammeln" Der Spiegel.
  8. ^ Wolfgang Messner (26 October 2012). "Sponsorenaffäre bei der CDU Baden-Württemberg: Aserbaidschan finanziert den Landestag der Jungen Union mit". Stuttgarter Zeitung. Die Junge Union Baden-Württemberg sieht sich innerparteilicher Kritik und Vorwürfen von Amnesty International ausgesetzt, weil das staatlich finanzierte Studentennetzwerk von Aserbaidschan beim JU-Landestag als Sponsor auftritt.
  9. ^ Hans Georg Frank (12 November 2012). "Nach Zerreißprobe auf Versöhnungskurs". Südwest Presse. Der monatelange Machtkampf in der Jungen Union soll nach der Wiederwahl des Vorsitzenden beendet sein. Nikolas Löbel muss nach dem Landestag in Sinsheim zwei tief gespaltene Lager versöhnen.
  10. ^ "German Parliament Takes Azerbaijan Corruption Seriously – Finally". Human Rights Watch. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  11. ^ WELT (30 January 2020). "Karin Strenz und Eduard Lintner: Razzia bei Unionspolitikern". DIE WELT. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  12. ^ WELT (4 March 2021). "Bundestag hebt Immunität von CDU-Abgeordnetem Fischer auf". DIE WELT. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  13. ^ "Aserbaidschan-Affäre: Der Diktator, die CDU, der Moderator und das Geld". www.vice.com (in German). 22 March 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  14. ^ "CDU/CSU-Abgeordnete verwickelt: Soziologe erklärt, wie Aserbaidschan EU-Politiker kauft". stern.de (in German). 26 March 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  15. ^ Uwe Halbach (20 November 2017). "Nagorny-Karabach". Innerstaatliche Konflikte. Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. Weltweit wächst die Sorge vor einem neuen Krieg in diesem ältesten postsowjetischen Sezessionskonflikt im Südkaukasus. danach, am 26. November 2020 noch aktualisiert So in der Version vom 20. November 2017 at the Wayback Machine (archived 10 June 2017).
  16. ^ Nikolas Löbel (2 October 2020). "Völkerrechtswidrigen Zustand in Berg-Karabach beenden – Friedliche Lösung des Konflikts suchen". Nikolas-loebel.de. Archived from the original on 19 November 2020.
  17. ^ Nikolas Löbel (6 June 2018). "Reisebericht: Meine Reise nach Aserbaidschan". Nikolas-loebel.de. Archived from the original on 28 February 2021.
  18. ^ Stefanie Ball (10 March 2021). "Masken-Geschäfte - Avendi und SRH Holding machten im Umgang mit Nikolas Löbel unterschiedliche Erfahrungen: "Sehr verärgert" über Provision". Mannheimer Morgen.
  19. ^ a b c Melanie Amann, Sven Becker, Jürgen Dahlkamp, Gunther Latsch, Sven Röbel, Gerald Traufetter, Wolf Wiedmann-Schmidt und Robin Wille (5 March 2021). "Corona-Masken: CDU-Hinterbänkler kassierte 250.000 Euro Provision". Der Spiegel.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ "Stellungnahme der ORPEA Deutschland zu Medienberichten über die Vermittlung von medizinischen Schutzgütern durch den Bundestagsabgeordneten Nikolas Löbel" (PDF). Orpea Deutschland GmbH. 5 March 2021.
  21. ^ "Unions-Abgeordnete in der Kritik: Affäre um Schutzmasken weitet sich aus". Tagesschau. ARD. 6 March 2021.
  22. ^ "Skandal um Löbel – Stellungnahmen von LINKEN, SPD und GRÜNEN". Kommunalinfo Mannheim. 5 March 2021.
  23. ^ "Suspect arrested in Germany's 'mask affair' scandal". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  24. ^ Chazan, Guy (9 March 2021). "Subscribe to a slice of the FT | Financial Times". Financial Times. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  25. ^ "Vorwürfe gegen Löbel: Masken-Geschäfte sorgen für Unruhe in Union". FAZ.net. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 6 March 2021.
  26. ^ "CDU: Nikolas Löbel zieht sich aus der Politik zurück". Der Spiegel. 7 March 2021.
  27. ^ Schalamon, Stella (7 March 2021). "Nikolaus Löbel zieht sich aus Politik zurück". Die Zeit. ZEIT ONLINE.
  28. ^ "CDU-Abgeordneter Löbel zieht sich aus Politik zurück". Süddeutsche Zeitung. 7 March 2021.
  29. ^ Uwe Lueb (9 March 2021). "Maskenaffäre in der Union: Kann es Laschet noch richten?". Tagesschau. ARD.
  30. ^ Maskenaffäre: CDU-Abgeordneter Löbel legt sein Bundestagsmandat sofort nieder. (Memento vom 10. März 2021 im Internet Archive), Eilmeldung, In: tagesschau.de, ARD, 8. März 2021.
  31. ^ "Deutscher Bundestag - Ausgeschiedene Abgeordnete der 19. Wahlperiode". bundestag.de.
  32. ^ "Rücktritt und Austritt von Nikolas Löbel". CDU Mannheim. 8 March 2021.
  33. ^ "Früherer CDU-Politiker: Staatsanwaltschaft ermittelt gegen Löbel – aber nicht wegen Maskenaffäre". Faz.net. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 31 March 2021. Der zurückgetretene Bundestagsabgeordnete Nikolas Löbel sieht sich einem Ermittlungsverfahren der Staatsanwaltschaft ausgesetzt. Es besteht ‚ein Anfangsverdacht für die Begehung mehrerer Straftaten', darunter Untreue.
  34. ^ "Einleitung eines Ermittlungsverfahrens gegen den ehemaligen Bundestagsabgeordneten Nikolas Löbel". Aktuelle Pressemitteilungen. Staatsanwaltschaft Mannheim. 31 March 2021.
  35. ^ "German MP Nikolas Löbel resigns over face mask scandal". BBC News. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
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