As a student Schmidt joined the
Junge Union (JU), the CSU youth group, in 1973. In 1976 he registered as a member of the CSU. From 1980 to 1982 he was chairman of the JU-District Association in Neustadt-an-der-Aisch. In 1982 he was named Chair of the JU-Regional Association for Central Franconia, a position that he held until 1991. From 1984 to 1990 Christian Schmidt was a town councillor in his hometown of Obernzenn and member of the District Council for
Neustadt an der Aisch-Bad Windsheim.
Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Defence (2005–2013) , 5 June 2013 Schmidt was named Parliamentary State Secretary in the
Federal Ministry of Defence by
Chancellor Angela Merkel on 23 November 2005. In this capacity he served as parliamentary and political representative for three Ministers of the Defence;
Franz Josef Jung,
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and
Thomas de Maizière. During his time in office Schmidt advanced the establishment of a foundation to care for service members negatively impacted by the side effects of radar signals encountered during their service. His time in office has seen several landmark events including the investigation into the wartime activities of World War II German flying ace
Werner Mölders (2007), the reorientation of the Federal Republic's armed forces (since 2010) and the resignation of Defence Minister zu Guttenberg in the wake of a plagiarism scandal (2011). Schmidt had defended zu Guttenberg against the accusations of plagiary. Schmidt also played an instrumental role in the establishment and financing of the “Hardship Fund” (Härtefall-Stiftung). This fund, maintained by the Soldiers’ Relief Association e.V., was founded in 2012 with the express remit of supporting soldiers seriously injured in the line of duty. The fund provides support above and beyond the standard duty of care laws in the Federal Republic, thereby serving as additional assistance for those veterans most in need. Following the resignation of zu Guttenberg in 2011 Schmidt remained in office and was re-confirmed to the post by the new Minister for Defense,
Thomas de Maiziere. In the negotiations to form a
coalition government following the
2013 federal elections, he was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on foreign affairs, defense policy and development cooperation, led by de Maizière and
Frank-Walter Steinmeier. From 2011 until 2017 Schmidt had been serving as one of 5 deputy chairmen of the CSU, under the leadership of chairman
Horst Seehofer. In this capacity, he was his party's spokesman on foreign and security policy, as well as on European politics. He was also responsible for the relationship of the CSU with other parties that are members of the European People's Party caucus (Christian Democrats) at the European Union level. He managed CSU international outreach to Israel, Croatia, Austria, the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture (2014–2018) summit in
Brussels, 17 March 2016 From 2014 until 2018, Schmidt served as Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture in the
third cabinet of Chancellor
Angela Merkel. In response to a 2016 collapse in milk prices, Schmidt rolled out an emergency package of at least €100 million for the country's dairy farmers, including loans and
tax relief. Also during his time in office, Germany culled 776,000 farm chickens, turkeys, ducks and other types of poultry between November 2016 and January 2017 to combat
bird flu. In November 2017, Schmidt angered most politicians by breaking an agreement not to back a European Union proposal to extend the use of
glyphosate for another five years, a measure opposed by Environment Minister
Barbara Hendricks of the SPD, who had secured a guarantee of a non-positive vote just minutes before; it is usual practice that Germany abstains in EU votes if ministers from different governing parties disagree on a policy. Following the incident, Chancellor Merkel publicly scolded Schmidt, arguing that he should not have voted in favor against the wish of his colleague and in breach of government instructions. Schmidt's connections to the agricultural lobby have been part of criticism ever since.
Later career Since leaving his government post, Schmidt has been serving on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and its Sub-Committee on the United Nations. In 2019, Schmidt was appointed by the
Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community to serve on the committee that oversaw the preparations for the 30th anniversary of
German reunification. In June 2021, he announced that he would not stand in the
2021 federal elections, but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.
High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina (2021–present) (centre) and Foreign Minister
Anže Logar, 1 September 2021 In January 2021, the
German government nominated Schmidt to be the new
High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 27 May 2021, Austrian diplomat
Valentin Inzko resigned from his office of the High Representative. On 1 August, he was officially appointed by the
Peace Implementation Council as the new High Representative, succeeding Inzko. In November 2021, Schmidt gave his first report to the
United Nations secretary-general, warning that Bosnia and Herzegovina was in imminent danger of breaking apart with a possible return to conflict, and warned that if this happened, international military presence should be reviewed. Schmidt imposed changes to Bosnia and Herzegovina's electoral law after voting hours ended for the
2022 general election. The changes prominently included an expansion of the
Federal House of Peoples from 56 to 80 members, changes in the election process for the house as well as changes in the election process for the
president and
vice presidents of the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. An earlier draft of election law changes that leaked in July was met with protests in the capital
Sarajevo. The draft was also criticised by
Bisera Turković, the Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the
Iranian embassy, claiming it "consolidates the ethnic divisions". The changes received support from the United States and the United Kingdom embassies.
Contestations of his legitimacy as High Representative , 10 March 2023
Russia and
China have opposed Schmidt's appointment, do not recognize the legality and legitimacy of Schmidt’s election and refuse to recognize his authority, as he was appointed without a corresponding
United Nations Security Council resolution nor was he chosen or approved on a broad consensus by the Peace Implementation Council, as was the case for previous High Representatives. In addition to Russia and China in the international arena, several domestic political leaders also repudiate Schmidt or his decisions. On 28 April 2023, after months of political deadlock in the formation of a new
government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, following the
2022 general election, Schmidt intervened by suspending the Constitution of the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for twenty-four hours, with
Social Democratic Party president
Nermin Nikšić getting appointed as the new
Federal Prime Minister. His appointment is deemed unconstitutional by at least two opposition leaders of parliamentary parties due to Schmidt's intervention. At the same time,
Fadil Novalić, whom Nikšić succeeded as Prime Minister thanks to Schmidt's intervention, refused to concede the power and continues contesting his forceable deposing as illegal and unconstitutional. In June 2023, the
National Assembly of Republika Srpska voted to suspend rulings by the
Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and stopping publishing the High Representative's decrees and laws in the official gazette. Following this decision, Schmidt declared that he had annulled the two laws which the Assembly had adopted, citing that the decisions "directly violate the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the
Dayton peace agreement." On 26 March 2024, Schmidt imposed a new set of changes to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s election law, announcing the implementation of
electronic vote-counting, electronic identification and digital voting stations at a limited number of locations in a pilot scheme. Bosnian Serb leader
Milorad Dodik threatened that Serbs would block the work of the country’s
national government unless the election laws imposed by Schmidt were "annulled" and "Western ambassadors expelled from the country." ==Political positions==