The FDP member of parliament Michael Georg Link is to become the federal government's new transatlantic commissioner.

The personnel decision is before the federal cabinet for decision this Wednesday.

In the future, SPD MP Dietmar Nietan will assume the role of special representative for German-Polish relations.

Green MP Manuel Sarrazin was appointed the federal government's special envoy for the Western Balkans a week ago.

This means that six of the seven special envoy functions that belong to the Federal Foreign Office's area of ​​responsibility have now been filled.

Johannes Leithauser

Political correspondent in Berlin.

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No decision has yet been made as to who will take on the role of coordinator for inter-societal cooperation with Russia, Central Asia and the countries of the Eastern Partnership.

So far, the office of Russia representative was held by Johann Saathoff, who is now Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

The three parliamentarians now appointed, Link, Nietan and Sarrazin, have all gained foreign policy experience and connections in various capacities.

Sarrazin has been a European politician in the Bundestag for more than twelve years and, as chairman of the German Southeast Europe Society, is committed to the region, which includes the western Balkans.

Link first moved into the Bundestag for the FDP in 2005 and was involved in European politics and in Franco-German initiatives.

In 2000 he headed the OSCE Election Observation Mission to the United States Presidential Election.

Nietan entered the Bundestag for the first time in 1998;

he is chairman of the German-Polish Society.

In his commissioner function, Nietan replaces the Prime Minister of Brandenburg, Dietmar Woidke, whose federal state shares the longest border with Poland.

Woidke, who was primarily committed to improving cross-border infrastructure and facilitating travel routes, gave up the officer function at the turn of the year.

The previous transatlantic coordinator Peter Beyer, who sits in the Bundestag for the CDU, lost his position due to the change of government in the federal government.

In total, the list of federal government representatives, special representatives and special envoys in the Chancellery and the ministries currently includes 35 different positions.

Not all officers in the Foreign Office or in the other ministries come from the ranks of the Bundestag.

The post of special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, for example, is filled by the official diplomat Jasper Wieck;

The position of special representative for international climate policy, newly created by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, is held by the former head of the environmental organization Greenpeace, Jennifer Lee Morgan.