Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who has served as Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2013. He currently serves as Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) with regard to 2016 German chairmanship of the OSCE. Steinmeier was a close aide of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, serving as Chief of Staff in the German Chancellery from 1999 to 2005. He subsequently served as Foreign Minister (2005–2009) and Vice Chancellor (2007–2009) in the grand coalition government of Angela Merkel. In 2008, he briefly served as acting chairman of his party, and he was the SPD's candidate for Chancellor in the 2009 federal election.