predecessor successor birth_place party office birth_date term_start image article_title term_end name occupation
gerhard stoltenberg rudolf scharping hamburg cdu federal minister of defence 25 september 1942 april 1 , 1992 bundesarchiv rühe.jpg b 145 bild-f082408-0014 , bremen , cdu-bundesparteitag , volker rühe
 october 27 , 1998 volker rühe teacher
volker rühe

volker rühe -lrb- born september 25 , 1942 -rrb- is a german politician affiliated to the cdu .
he served as german defence minister from april 1 , 1992 , succeeding gerhard stoltenberg during the first government of a reunified germany in the fourth cabinet of chancellor kohl , to the end of the fifth kohl cabinet on october 27 , 1998 .
during his time at the defence ministry rühe played a central role in placing nato enlargement on the german political agenda .
he unsuccessfully ran for the office of minister-president of the german state `` schleswig-holstein '' in the year 2000 .
from 1976 to 2005 he was a member of the german `` bundestag '' .
volker rühe is currently resigned from active participation in electoral politics .
he was recently quoted by `` neue presse '' expressing sympathy for russian president vladimir putin and arguing for an intensive dialogue between the german government and `` the kremlin '' on the subject of the american proposed `` missile defense system '' .
`` we are talking as if iran already had nuclear weapons ... we ca n't continue with deterrence , like during the cold war . ''
