Reem Alabali Radovan

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Reem Alabali Radovan
Picture of 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]

Radovan has been a Member of the Bundestag since 2021.[2] 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] and individually, she is both the first person of Assyrian descent in the parliament and the youngest member of the Merz cabinet.[4][5]

Early life

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Radovan was born in Moscow in 1990 to Iraqi Assyrian parents[6][7] of Chaldean Catholic religious background.[8][9][10] Her parents opposed the government of Saddam Hussein, and had moved to the Soviet Union in the 1980s to study engineering. Her father was a fighter of the Peshmerga,[11][12] and her paternal grandfather, Muhammad Salih Alabali, was an Iraqi resistance leader who had been executed by the Ba'athist government.[3][13] In 1996, after a brief stop in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq,[14][15] the family sought, and received asylum in Germany, settling in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.[16][17][6]

Radovan completed her school education at the Gymnasium Fridericianum Schwerin. From her parent's involvement with Iraqi politics, Radovan was inspired to pursue political science[18] and graduated with a bachelor's degree 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.[19]

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.[7][20]

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[11][12] — where she herself had been received with her parents in 1996.[10] It was during her time there that she became an active member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany in the Schwerin – Ludwigslust-Parchim I – Nordwestmecklenburg I district.[3]

Political career

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Career in state politics

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In 2020, Radovan was appointed Commissioner for integration of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state government, succeeding Dagmar Kaselitz who resigned the previous year.[17][8] She became an official member of the SPD in 2021.

Member of the German Parliament, 2021–present

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For the 2021 German federal election, Radovan was elected in the constituency of Schwerin – Ludwigslust-Parchim I – Nordwestmecklenburg I,[21][22] defeating incumbent Dietrich Monstadt of the CDU.[23][24] She won with the most first-past-the post votes in the election.[25]

Within her parliamentary group, Radovan belongs to the Parliamentary Left, a left-wing movement.[26]

On 8 December 2021, the Scholz cabinet appointed Radovan as Federal Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration with the rank of a Minister of State in the Federal Chancellery.[7][27][28] From 23 February 2022, she additionally served as the Federal Government Commissioner for Anti-Racism, being the first commissioner to hold the post.[29] In 2024, Radovan supported a bill ending a ban on dual-nationality to ease migration and naturalization efforts in Germany proposed by Scholz.[6][30]

Between April 13th and 14th 2024, Radovan was elected to the position of Deputy State Chairwoman of the SPD in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.[31] Ahead of the 2025 German federal election,[32] Radovan was unanimously nominated by the SPD for the candidacy.[25] She was the top candidate for the SPD on the party's state list in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,[33][9] narrowly being chosen over Frank Junge.[34][4][35]

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, 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.[36][37]

In May 2025, Radovan was elected to the position of Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development.[38][39] She replaced SPD member Svenja Schulze when taking over the position.[40][41]

In July, she visited South Africa to discuss economic relations between them and Germany, as well as to attend the 2025 G20 Johannesburg summit.[42] She has used her position to prioritize building alliances with the Global South to combat crises.[43]

Other activities

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International organizations

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Corporate boards

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  • KfW, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Supervisory Directors (since 2025)

Non-profit organizations

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Personal life

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Radovan speaks fluent German, Arabic, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic,[3][11] and English;[17] from her years in Russia, her native language is Russian (though she has since forgotten it[11]), and she studied classical languages while in grade school.[19] Radovan recognizes her ancestry from Iraq, and after her electoral victory, many Iraqis celebrated on social media.[13]

Radovan is married to professional boxer Denis Radovan, whose family also fled to Germany,[8] and she likes to box in her spare time.[47][10][15] In 2023, she gave birth to her first child.[48] In June 2025, Radovan decided to drop the hyphen in her last name after a law for double names passed earlier that year.[49] She currently resides in Schwerin[10] and has two younger siblings.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "Follow für Teil 2 mit Reem Alabali-Radovan". YouTube. Funke News. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  2. ^ a b Aswad, Nadja; Hellemann, Angelika (5 May 2025). "SPD-Minister stehen fest: Esken weg!". bild. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d "Reem Alabali-Radovan: The 1st German Minister of Iraqi Origin in the Deutscher Bundestag". Al Majalla. 24 December 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Reem Alabali-Radovan re-elected to the Bundestag". Syriac Press. Berlin. 26 February 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  5. ^ "SPD: Alabali-Radovan - Vom Flüchtlingskind zur Ministerin". ZDFheute (in German). 5 May 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  6. ^ a b c Escritt, Thomas (19 January 2024). "Labour-hungry Germany eases citizenship path despite migration rows". Reuters. Berlin. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  7. ^ a b c "Reem Alabali-Radovan ist neue Staatsministerin". Bethnahrin (in German). Assyrian Mesopotamia Association Augsburg e. V. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  8. ^ a b c "German Commissioner for immigration: 'Don't make me your integration role model'". InfoMigrants. 30 December 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  9. ^ a b "Germany's new government mostly Catholic — Germany's Catholic news agency". dw.com. 5 May 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  10. ^ a b c d Valentiner, Vivien (6 May 2025). "Reem Alabali-Radovan: Entwicklungsministerin mit berühmtem Mann". www.morgenpost.de (in German). Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  11. ^ a b c d Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH. "Vom Flüchtling zur Betreuerin: Die zwei Leben der Reem Al-Abali". FAZ.NET (in German). Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  12. ^ a b Monath, Hans (7 December 2021). "Vom Flüchtlingskind zur Staatsministerin: Die Blitzkarriere der neuen Integrationsbeauftragten im Kanzleramt". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  13. ^ a b "Reem al-Abali; A Politician of Iraqi Origin Who Leads the German Ministry of Immigration". www.alestiklal.net. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  14. ^ a b "Reem Alabali-Radovan - Munzinger Biographie". www.munzinger.de. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  15. ^ a b Elliesen, Tillmann (27 May 2025). "Reem Alabali-Radovan: new minister for development cooperation". www.deutschland.de. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  16. ^ "Reem Alabali-Radovan: Das Gesicht der Aramäer". Die Tagespost (in German). 28 December 2021.
  17. ^ a b c Zeitung, Süddeutsche (14 January 2020). "Landesregierung beruft neue Integrationsbeauftragte". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  18. ^ "Reem Alabali-Radovan". Wir sind der Osten (in German). Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  19. ^ a b "Integrationsbeauftragte der Landesregierung MV: Reem Alabali-Radowan Schwerin". menscheninschwerin.de (in German). 20 September 2021. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  20. ^ "Reem Alabali-Radovan - Aktuelle Nachrichten und Hintergründe". ZDFheute (in German). Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  21. ^ "Landesliste zur Bundestagswahl 2021 in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern auf Landesvertreterversammlung beschlossen". SPD Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (in German). 21 June 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  22. ^ "Gewählte in Landeslisten der Parteien in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - Die Bundeswahlleiterin". www.bundeswahlleiterin.de. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  23. ^ "Ergebnisse Schwerin – Ludwigslust-Parchim I – Nordwestmecklenburg I – Der Bundeswahlleiter". www.bundeswahlleiter.de. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  24. ^ "Wahlergebnis Schwerin - Ludwigslust-Parchim I - Nordwestmecklenburg I". Die Zeit (in German). 15 October 2021.
  25. ^ a b "SPD nominiert Reem Alabali-Radovan erneut als Bundestagskandidatin". SPD-Kreisverband Schwerin (in German). 28 September 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  26. ^ Members Archived 11 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine Parliamentary Left.
  27. ^ "DIASPORA: KURDISH WOMAN APPOINTED MINISTER OF JUSTICE IN THE NETHERLANDS". Institutkurde.org. Kurdish Institute of Paris. December 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2025. In Germany, a "Peshmerga girl" from Iraqi Kurdistan, Reem Alabali-Radovan, of Assyrian-Chaldean origin, a member of the Social Democratic Party, has been appointed State Secretary for Migration, Refugees and Integration in the new German coalition government.
  28. ^ Szymanski, Mike (7 December 2021). "Neue Bundesregierung: Auch die zweite Reihe steht". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  29. ^ "'We all need to be anti-racists' – Germany appoints first federal anti-racism commissioner". InfoMigrants. 24 February 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  30. ^ "In need of workers, Germany eases citizenship path". Middle East Monitor. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  31. ^ "Der Landesvorstand". SPD Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (in German). Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  32. ^ Schneider, Martin. "Reem Alabali-Radovan erneut als SPD-Kandidatin für Bundestag nominiert!". Nachrichten AG (in German). Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  33. ^ Schneider, Martin. "Reem Alabali-Radovan: SPD-Kandidatin für Bundestagswahl 2025 benannt!". Nachrichten AG (in German). Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  34. ^ "Alabali-Radovan nach Kampfabstimmung SPD-Spitzenkandidatin". n-tv.de (in German). n-tv. 21 December 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  35. ^ Ludmann, Stefan. "Bundesministerin aus MV: Reem Alabali-Radovan von der SPD steigt in die Bundesregierung von Kanzler Merz auf". ndr.de (in German). Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  36. ^ Geyer, Steven (20 March 2025). "Personal der Koalitionsverhandlungen: Nur ein Drittel Frauen, kaum junge Menschen". www.rnd.de (in German). Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  37. ^ "Zuständigkeiten der SPD-Arbeitsgruppen für die Koalitionsverhandlungen". Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD) (in German). 12 March 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  38. ^ Rödle, Moritz (5 May 2025). "Das sind die SPD-Minister im Kabinett unter Kanzler Merz". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 20 August 2025. Nun soll sie Ministerin für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung werden. [She is now set to become Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development.]
  39. ^ "Reem Alabali Radovan ist neue Bundesentwicklungsministerin". Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (in German). Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  40. ^ "SPD-Minister: Bärbel Bas soll Arbeitsministerin werden, Stefanie Hubig übernimmt Justiz". Der Spiegel (in German). 5 May 2025. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  41. ^ "SPD-Regierungsteam: Nur Pistorius behält Posten". news.ORF.at (in German). 5 May 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  42. ^ "Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan in South Africa: Strengthen economic cooperation and strategic partnership". Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  43. ^ Gerhäusser, Tina (2 June 2025). "Germany will play 'leading role in combating global crises'". dw.com. Hamburg, Germany: Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  44. ^ IBRD/IDA/IFC Governors & Alternates, 26 August 2025 World Bank.
  45. ^ "DFB-Stiftungen: Neuendorf übernimmt Leitung von zwei Kuratorien". DFB - Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. (in German). Archived from the original on 26 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  46. ^ Bildung, Bundeszentrale für politische (30 June 2025). "Jury". bpb.de (in German). Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  47. ^ "Minister of State: Reem Alabali-Radovan". SWR (in German). 8 March 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  48. ^ "Integrationsbeauftragte Alabali-Radovan ist Mutter geworden". www.merkur.de (in German). 29 March 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  49. ^ "Künftig ohne Bindestrich: Entwicklungsministerin ändert Nachnamen". www.evangelisch.de (in German). Retrieved 20 August 2025.
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