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The Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation

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Michael Link has been Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation at the Federal Foreign Office since March 2022.

Michael Link in front of the US Capitol — Michael Link © Privat

Curriculum vitae

Born in Heilbronn on 6 February 1963

After gaining his higher education entrance qualification (Abitur) and military service, he studied Russian and French at the universities of Augsburg, Lausanne and Heidelberg.

1995 to 2005
Parliamentary adviser and assistant in the German Bundestag, FDP parliamentary group and Dr Klaus Kinkel

2005 to 2013 and since 2017
Member of the German Bundestag for the Heilbronn constituency

2009 to 2011 and 2014 to 2023
Member of Heilbronn City Council

2012 to 2013
Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, responsible for, inter alia, NATO, the OSCE and all transatlantic issues, including bilateral relations with the United States and Canada as well as Federal Government Commissioner for Franco-German Cooperation

2014 to 2017
Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), based in Warsaw

2020
Head OSCE observer at the US general elections

Since 2022
Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation

Since September 2023
Deputy Chairman of the Free Democratic Party parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, responsible for international policy

25.10.2023 Article

Transatlantic relations

Alongside European integration, the transatlantic partnership is the most important pillar of German foreign policy. The United States and Canada are among Germany’s closest allies outside Europe.