Jürgen Rüttgers

Who is Jürgen Rüttgers?

Jürgen Rüttgers is a German politician and former Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, widely known for his views on immigration and the much-discussed phrase "Kinder statt Inder" which was a media interpretation of "Statt Inder an die Computer müssen unsere Kinder an die Computer", during an election campaign at a time when there was a parallel nationwide discussion about whether or not immigration rules should be liberalised on behalf of attracting more highly qualified foreign academics to the German labor market. His opinions on the superiority of the Christian religion, which he expressed in a TV talk-show were also a reason for headlines lately.

In the state parliament election 2005, Jürgen Rüttgers was the opposition Christian Democratic Union's front-runner for the second time. The former minister for education, science, research and technology in Chancellor Helmut Kohl's Cabinet in 1994 to 1998 has headed the CDU in the state since 1999 and has been its leader in state parliament since the last election. Rüttgers has also been one of the CDU's deputy party chairmen since 2000.