Reem Alabali-Radovan

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Reem Alabali-Radovan
Alabali-Radovan in 2025
Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2025
ChancellorFriedrich Merz
Preceded bySvenja Schulze
Minister of State for Migration, Refugees and Integration
In office
8 December 2021 – 6 May 2025
ChancellorOlaf Scholz
Preceded byAnnette Widmann-Mauz
Succeeded byNatalie Pawlik
Member of the Bundestag for Schwerin – Ludwigslust-Parchim I – Nordwestmecklenburg I
In office
26 September 2021 – 23 February 2025
Preceded byDietrich Monstadt
Succeeded byLeif-Erik Holm
Personal details
Born
Reem Al-Abali

(1990-05-01) 1 May 1990 (age 35)
Moscow, Soviet Union
(now Russia)
CitizenshipGermany
Political partySPD (since 2021)
SpouseDenis Radovan
Children1
Alma materFree University of Berlin

Reem Alabali-Radovan (German pronunciation: [ˈʁiːm alaˈbaːli ˈʁaːdovaːn];[1] born 1 May 1990) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as the Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development in the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz since May 2025.[2]

Alabali-Radovan has been a Member of the Bundestag since 2021. In addition to her parliamentary work, she served as Minister of State at the Chancellery and Federal Commissioner for Migration, Refugees, and Integration in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's cabinet from 2021 to 2025. Together with Muhanad Al-Halak, she was the first person of Iraqi descent in the Bundestag.[3]

Early life

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Alabali-Radovan was born in Moscow in 1990. Her parents, Iraqi Arab and Chaldean[4] who opposed the government of Saddam Hussein, had moved to the Soviet Union in the 1980s to study engineering. Her paternal grandfather,[which?] Muhammad Salih Alabali, was an Iraqi resistance leader who had been executed by the Ba'athist government.[3] In 1996, the family sought, and received asylum in Germany, settling in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.[5][6][7]

Alabali-Radovan completed her school education at the Gymnasium Fridericianum Schwerin. Alabali graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science from the Free University of Berlin and obtained a master's degree program (distance learning) in Sustainable Development Cooperation at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern.[8]

From June 2012 to July 2014, she worked as a technical staff member at the German Orient Institute and was employed in the field of economic development at the Near and Middle East Association in Berlin — initially as an assistant, later as a country officer. In May 2015, she returned to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and worked at the Office for Migration and Refugee Affairs of the State Office for Internal Administration of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, specifically at the initial reception center for refugees in Nostorf — where she herself had been received with her parents in 1996.

Political career

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Career in state politics

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In 2020, Alabali-Radovan was appointed Commissioner for integration of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state government.

Member of the German Parliament, 2021–present

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At the 2021 German federal election Alabali-Radovan was elected in the constituency of Schwerin – Ludwigslust-Parchim I – Nordwestmecklenburg I, defeating incumbent Dietrich Monstadt of the CDU.[9][10]

Within her parliamentary group, Alabali-Radovan belongs to the Parliamentary Left, a left-wing movement.[11]

On 8 December 2021, the Scholz cabinet appointed Alabali-Radovan as Federal Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration with the rank of a Minister of State in the Federal Chancellery. From 23 February 2022, she additionally served as the Federal Government Commissioner for Anti-Racism.

Ahead of the 2025 German federal election,[12] Alabali-Radovan was the top candidate for the SPD on the party's state list in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.[13]

In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition between the Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) under the leadership of Friedrich Merz and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) following the 2025 German elections, Alabali-Radovan was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on domestic policy, legal affairs, migration and integration, led by Günter Krings, Andrea Lindholz and Dirk Wiese.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "Follow für Teil 2 mit Reem Alabali-Radovan". YouTube. Funke News. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  2. ^ "SPD-Minister stehen fest". bild. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Reem Alabali-Radovan: The 1st German Minister of Iraqi Origin in the Deutscher Bundestag". Majallah. 24 December 2021.
  4. ^ https://www.dw.com/en/germany-updates-conservative-led-coalition-signs-agreement/live-72433375
  5. ^ "Reem Alabali-Radovan: Das Gesicht der Aramäer". Die Tagespost (in German). 28 December 2021.
  6. ^ Zeitung, Süddeutsche (14 January 2020). "Landesregierung beruft neue Integrationsbeauftragte". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  7. ^ Thomas Escritt (19 January 2024), Labour-hungry Germany eases citizenship path despite migration rows Reuters.
  8. ^ "Reem AlabaliRadowan". menscheninschwerin.de (in German). Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Ergebnisse Schwerin – Ludwigslust-Parchim I – Nordwestmecklenburg I – Der Bundeswahlleiter". www.bundeswahlleiter.de. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  10. ^ "Wahlergebnis Schwerin - Ludwigslust-Parchim I - Nordwestmecklenburg I". Die Zeit (in German). 15 October 2021.
  11. ^ Members Parliamentary Left.
  12. ^ Schneider, Martin. "Reem Alabali-Radovan erneut als SPD-Kandidatin für Bundestag nominiert!". Nachrichten AG (in German). Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  13. ^ Schneider, Martin. "Reem Alabali-Radovan: SPD-Kandidatin für Bundestagswahl 2025 benannt!". Nachrichten AG (in German). Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  14. ^ Steven Geyer (20 March 2025), Nur ein Drittel Frauen, kaum junge Menschen: Wer Deutschlands Zukunft verhandelt RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland.
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