Rolf Nikel

Rolf Nikel, 2013

Rolf Wilhelm Nikel (born July 22, 1954 in Frankfurt am Main ) is a retired German diplomat . Most recently he was ambassador to Poland from 2014 to 2020 .

Life

After graduating from high school in 1974, Nikel began studying political science , economics and international law at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main , which he continued at universities in Durham and Paris . In 1979 he graduated from the Institut d'études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) .

In 1980 Nikel began the preparatory service for the higher foreign service and after its graduation was a consultant in the Soviet Union department at the Foreign Office in Bonn between 1982 and 1983 and then from 1983 to 1986 at the embassy in the Soviet Union . After being employed at the Embassy in Kenya between 1986 and 1989 , he was Deputy Head of the Eastern Europe, Former Soviet Union and Balkans Department at the Federal Chancellery from 1989 to 1994 .

Nikel then took part in an exchange program with the French Foreign Ministry from 1994 to 1996 and was then Deputy Head of the Political Department of the Embassy in France between 1996 and 1998 , before he was Head of Division Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and the Balkans in the Federal Chancellery from 1998 to 2001. After participating in the Fellow program at Harvard University between 2001 and 2002 , he served as head of the political department of the embassy in the USA from 2002 to 2005 .

After his return to Germany, Nikel found another position in the Federal Chancellery, between 2005 and 2006 as group leader United Nations and Global Issues and then from 2006 to 2011 as deputy head of the Foreign and Security Policy department, before he succeeded from 2011 to 2014 Peter Gottwald was the Federal Government Commissioner for Disarmament and Arms Control. His successor there in April 2014 was Antje Leendertse , the previous commissioner for Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia in the Foreign Office.

In April 2014, Nikel succeeded Rüdiger von Fritsch , who in turn became Ambassador to Russia , Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Poland . On April 15, 2014, he was received by the President of the Republic of Poland , Bronisław Komorowski , to present his credentials. On June 30, 2020, Nikel was dismissed as ambassador to Warsaw and retired. On leaving Poland, he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland . The diplomat Arndt Freiherr Freytag von Loringhoven was nominated as his successor, but the Polish government experienced delays in his agrément .

In June 2020 Nikel was elected Vice President of the German Society for Foreign Policy (DGAP).

Publications

• The future of NATO's nuclear weapons , Hamburg 2011

Web links

Commons : Rolf Nikel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Curriculum vitae on the website of the German representations in Poland ( Memento from June 5, 2017 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ VII Europejski Kongres Gospodarczy - Katowice 20-22 kwietnia 2015 r. Retrieved January 7, 2019 (Polish). 
2. ↑ ^{a b} DER SPIEGEL: Poland does not allow German ambassadors to enter - DER SPIEGEL - politics. Retrieved August 26, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Report in the Federal Gazette : BAnz AT April 30, 2014 S1
4. ↑ Postanowienie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 19 czerwca 2020 r. o nadaniu orderów. Retrieved August 27, 2020 (Polish). 
5. ↑ Ambassador Rolf Nikel elected as the new Vice President | DGAP. Retrieved August 26, 2020 .