Helmut Metzner (politician)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Helmut Metzner (born December 11, 1968 in Bamberg ) is a German politician ( FDP ). He became known for allegedly passing on internal party information to the US ambassador following the publication of cables from US embassies by WikiLeaks , as a result of which he was released from his position as office manager of Guido Westerwelle .

Life

Metzner, born in 1968 as the seventh of nine children, graduated from ETA Hoffmann-Gymnasium Bamberg in 1988 and studied history, political science and philosophy in Bamberg and Erlangen .

Professional

From 1999 he worked for the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, first in Konstanz , then in Potsdam-Babelsberg and became a personal advisor to the board. As the successor to Stefan Kapferer, he headed the “Strategy and Campaigns” department of the FDP federal office, which u. a. was responsible for the Bundestag and European elections but also for international relations. After the election, the department was split up into the “Dialogue and Campaigns” department and the “Political Planning, Program and Analysis” department. In the course of this, on July 1, 2010, Metzner became the office manager of Guido Westerwelle in the federal office and head of “International Relations” and was therefore also responsible for contacts with the European Liberal Democrats ( ELDR ) and the Liberal International . Until December 2, 2010, he headed the office of the FDP federal chairman Guido Westerwelle in the federal office of the FDP (today Hans-Dietrich-Genscher-Haus ). On December 8, the employment relationship between the FDP and Helmut Metzner was terminated by mutual agreement.

Since February 1, 2011, Metzner has been self-employed as a consultant for political communication under the company name Polifaktur and worked as an employee of the former member of the Bundestag Martin Lindner in his Bundestag office. From April 1, 2013 to March 15, 2014, he was press spokesman for the FDP Berlin and has headed the party's state office since December 1, 2016. His company Polifaktur was entrusted with the election campaign coordination for the 2013 federal election campaign.

Politically

The former CSU member (1985–1988) joined the FDP on April 1, 1988 and one year later became deputy district chairman in Bamberg. From 1995 to 1997 he was deputy state chairman of the FDP Bavaria , and from 1998 to 2000 he was a member of the Bavarian state board. Metzner is now deputy district chairman of the FDP Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Berlin.

Metzner ran for the Bundestag election in 1994 in the Bamberg constituency and in 2001 for the Berlin House of Representatives in the Charlottenburg North constituency. In the 2013 federal election , Metzner ran for election in Berlin's 83rd constituency (Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg-Prenzlauer Berg Ost), where he achieved a first-time vote of 1.0%.

Wikileaks controversy

After the WikiLeaks website had published secret cables from the US embassy , which among other things contained supposedly secret information about the FDP, the party looked for the person responsible. On December 2, 2010, Metzner commented on the connection between him and the reporting of Wikileaks documents, whereupon he was released from his position as office manager . The despatches said that Metzner had informed the US diplomats, among other things, about the progress of the coalition negotiations between the CDU , CSU and FDP after the 2009 federal election. He had taken part in the negotiations as a recorder. Since 2004, Metzner had given inquiries from employees of the US embassy about strategic and programmatic projects of the FDP and prospects for success in upcoming elections. This led to a public as well as intra-party discussion about the nature of his official contact with the embassy under the leadership of Phil Murphys . Metzner himself rejected allegations of betrayal : at no time had he handed over or offered documents with confidential content to representatives of the embassy. According to statements by State Secretary Wolf-Ruthart Born , Metzner had access to at least five confidential government documents that were subject to secret protection after July 1, 2010 .

After five reports against Metzner, the federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe heard him on January 18, 2011 on the allegations of treason, treason and espionage. On February 9, 2011, the Attorney General (file number 3 ARP 146 / 10-1) announced that there was no initial suspicion based on facts that would justify the initiation of investigative proceedings against Helmut Metzner. Metzner informed the federal executive committee of the FDP about this result on February 10, 2011. In the star of February 17, 2011, Metzner commented for the first time in an interview on reporting after the Wikileaks publications.

Memberships and honorary positions

Helmut Metzner was a member of the Bamberg Cathedral Choir from 1979 to 1996 and of the Constance Oratorio Choir (now the Constance Symphony Choir) in 1999. He has been a member of the men's choir society Doppelquartett Bamberg since 1986 and of the Franconian Choir Association since 1999 .

Metzner has been a member of the Association of Friends of St. Johannis - Pro Capella since it was founded in 1992. He has also been a member of the Bamberg Historical Society since 1997 .

He is also a member of the Taxpayers' Association , the European Union and the German Society for Political Advice eV (de'ge'pol) .

Metzner has been a board member of the LSVD ( Lesbian and Gay Association in Germany ) since 2009 .

Publications

  • Development and organization of the Frankish liberals before the First World War. In: Yearbook for Franconian State Research , Erlangen 1997.
  • The effect of liberal ideas in the Franconian region of the 19th century. In: Arnd Kluge and Axel Herrmann (eds.): Johann August Wirth (1798–1848). A revolutionary from Hof. His person - his time - his effects. Hof 1997.
  • Does the media change the content of politics? Symposium at Hambach Castle. Constance 1999.
  • Rating: Particularly valuable. Evangelical academies discuss liberalism. In: liberal. Quarterly issues for politics and culture. 42nd volume, issue 3, August 2000.
  • Willy Lessing - A Bamberg victim of National Socialism. In: 136th report of the historical association , Bamberg 2000.
  • It depends on the citizen. Guidelines of liberal local politics. Edited by Gerhard Söltenfuß, Steffen Hentrich, Helmut Metzner, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, Berlin 2013.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Coburger Tageblatt , December 4, 2010.
  2. ↑ Biography of his blog ( Memento of February 13, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Westerwelle's office manager was an informant ( memento from July 31, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) FAZ from December 2, 2010.
  4. ^ The FDP was not enough n.tv from December 3, 2010.
  5. ↑ Gordon Repinski: "Enemy observation in the election campaign: In the sights of the enemy". the daily newspaper , September 18, 2009, accessed on December 6, 2010 .
  6. ↑ Annual Report FDP 2009 to 2011 (PDF; 4.0 MB) 2011, accessed on April 13, 2013 .
  7. ^ FDP-International Relations. Link no longer available.
  8. ^ CV of Helmut Metzner. In: polifaktur.de. Retrieved November 9, 2018 .
  9. ^ New press spokesman for the FDP Berlin - press release. April 5, 2013, archived from the original on March 27, 2014 ; Retrieved April 7, 2013 .
  10. ↑ Westerwelle's mole carries fly stern.de from December 2, 2010.
  11. ↑ https://www.wahlen-berlin.de/wahlen/BU2013/result/ergebwk83.asp?sel1=2155&sel2=0655
  12. ^ US informant - FDP separates from Maulwurf Metzner , Spiegel Online from December 8, 2010.
  13. ↑ It is the FDPetze Radio Hamburg from December 3, 2010.
  14. ^ Helmut Metzner - the mole in the FDP ( Memento from December 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Rheinische Post from December 3, 2010.
  15. ↑ Wikileaks and the FDP - Mole with Fly Süddeutsche Zeitung of December 2, 2010.
  16. ↑ FDP disputes over mole throwing out Spiegel Online from December 4, 2010.
  17. ^ FDP mole had access to secret files Spiegel Online from December 12, 2010.
  18. ↑ biography. Retrieved April 7, 2013 .
  19. ↑ Friends of St. Johannis - Pro Capella (Bamberg). In: FrankenWiki. Archived from the original on November 4, 2011 ; Retrieved April 7, 2013 .
  20. ↑ Board of Directors LSVD. (No longer available online.) April 3, 2013, archived from the original on January 26, 2013 ; Retrieved April 7, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / lsvd.de
personal data
SURNAME Metzner, Helmut
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician (FDP)
DATE OF BIRTH December 11, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH Bamberg