Klaus-Dieter Fritsche

Early life and education

Fritsche studied law at the University of Erlangen.

Career

Fritsche became a judge in 1981. From 1988 he worked for the CSU parliamentary group at the German Bundestag, then based in Bonn. In 1991 he joined the Bavarian representation in Bonn. He returned to Bavaria in 1993 as chief of staff to Hermann Regensburger and, from 1995, Günther Beckstein, at the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior, in the government of Minister-President Edmund Stoiber.

From October 1996 Fritsche served as Vice President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

In Chancellor Merkel's first term, Fritsche served as Federal Intelligence Service coordinator at the German Chancellery from December 2005 on. In November 2009 he was appointed deputy minister () at the Federal Ministry of the Interior under the leadership of minister Thomas de Maizière, succeeding August Hanning.

Later career

From 2019 until 2020, Fritsche worked as external advisor to Austrian Minister of the Interior Herbert Kickl in the government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

Amid the Wirecard scandal, media reports revealed that Fritsche helped set up a meeting with Lars-Hendrik Röller, Merkel's senior economic adviser, and senior Wirecard executives in September 2019.

In 2020, Fritsche was appointed as member of German defense manufacturing company Heckler & Koch's supervisory board; however, the Chancellery later vetoed the appointment.

References

References

1. [http://www.bmi.bund.de/DE/Ministerium/Beamtete-Staatssekretaere/Klaus-Dieter-Fritsche/klaus-dieter-fritsche_node.html Klaus-Dieter Fritsche - Beamtete Staatssekretäre.] {{Webarchive. link. (4 October 2013 {{in lang). de CV at Interior Ministry.
2. David E. Sanger and [[Alison Smale]] (16 December 2013), [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/world/europe/us-germany-intelligence-partnership-falters-over-spying.html U.S.-Germany Intelligence Partnership Falters Over Spying] ''[[The New York Times]]''.
3. [http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/pv/620/620560/620560en.pdf Temporary Committee on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transport and illegal detention of prisoners invites Fritsche to appear before the committee], 2006; see [[El-Masri v. Tenet]]
4. Markus Decker (29 January 2020), [https://www.rnd.de/politik/ex-staatssekretar-arbeitet-nicht-mehr-fur-innenministerium-in-wien-7WJLLUCUWJDYXCQL36VATARDTU.html Ex-Staatssekretär arbeitet nicht mehr für Innenministerium in Wien] ''[[RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland]]''.
5. Olaf Storbeck and Guy Chazan (22 July 2020), [https://www.ft.com/content/3c122d1b-660f-40db-9ac2-e8d724ffd3fa Former Wirecard CEO rearrested and accused of long-running fraud] ''[[Financial Times]]''.
6. Ruth Bender (22 July 2020), [https://www.wsj.com/articles/merkel-lobbied-for-wirecard-despite-german-probe-11595423285 Merkel Lobbied for Wirecard Despite German Probe] ''[[Wall Street Journal]]''.
7. [https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/ruestungsindustrie-oberndorf-am-neckar-waffenfirma-heckler-koch-komplettiert-ihren-aufsichtsrat-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-200907-99-465234 Waffenfirma Heckler & Koch komplettiert ihren Aufsichtsrat] ''[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]'', 7 September 2020.
8. Peter Carstens (24 October 2020), [https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/f-a-z-exklusiv-kanzleramt-verbot-klaus-dieter-fritsche-taetigkeit-bei-heckler-koch-17018474.html Kanzleramt verbot früherem Geheimdienstler Tätigkeit bei Heckler & Koch] ''[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung]]''.