Bettina Hagedorn, a Member of the Bundestag from Kiel (SPD), has been appointed as the new Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment. Ministry spokespeople confirmed this to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” on Friday. Hagedorn is succeeding Carsten Träger, who passed away unexpectedly nearly a month ago.
Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) justified his selection by describing Hagedorn as “a highly experienced, competent, and passionate politician”. He noted that Hagedorn will contribute valuable experience to the ministry’s leadership team, particularly in budgetary policy and from her previous tenure as Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance. Furthermore, Schneider expressed a personal connection to her background, stating, “I particularly like that she is from the Baltic Sea region. Because nature conservation is a matter dear to my heart”. Together, they plan to advocate for the protection of this valuable natural area.
Hagedorn, who trained as a goldsmith, has been a Member of the Bundestag since 2002, representing Ostholstein and Nordstormarn. She is also a member of the supervisory board of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).
The predecessor, Träger, was an SPD Member of the Bundestag and Parliamentary State Secretary who died several weeks ago at the age of 52. His party reported that he had collapsed during a ski holiday in Innsbruck.
