Susanne Riess

{{Short description|Austrian politician (born 1961)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Susanne Riess | image = Dr. Susanne Riess.jpg | caption = Riess in 2019 | office = Vice-Chancellor of Austria | chancellor = Wolfgang Schüssel | term_start = 4 February 2000 | term_end = 28 February 2003 | predecessor = Wolfgang Schüssel | successor = Herbert Haupt | office1 = Minister of Sport | chancellor1 = Wolfgang Schüssel | term_start1 = 3 April 2000 | term_end1 = 28 February 2003 | predecessor1 = Franz Morak | successor1 = Karl Schweitzer | office2 = Chair of the Freedom Party | term_start2 = 1 May 2000 | term_end2 = 8 September 2002 | predecessor2 = Jörg Haider | successor2 = Mathias Reichhold | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1961|1|3|df=y}} | birth_place = Braunau am Inn, Austria | death_date = | death_place = | party = Freedom Party | spouse = {{Marriage|Johannes Hahn|5 August 2022}} }}

'''Susanne Riess''' (born 3 January 1961 in Braunau am Inn)<ref>[http://www.parlament.gv.at/WWER/PAD_01688/ Biography on the Austrian parliament's site]. Retrieved on 12 Aug 2011.{{in lang|de}}</ref> is a former Austrian politician of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). Riess-Passer is now CEO of the Wüstenrot-Gruppe.

==Career== In the first government headed by Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, which was inaugurated in 2000, she became Vice Chancellor<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2000-02-29/world/austria.haider.03_1_new-coalition-minister-protests?_s=PM:WORLD |title=World Austrians take Haiders resignation in stride |work=CNNWorld |date=March 30, 2000 |access-date=2011-01-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101018180850/http://articles.cnn.com/2000-02-29/world/austria.haider.03_1_new-coalition-minister-protests?_s=PM:WORLD |archive-date=October 18, 2010 }}</ref> and minister of public services and sports, representing her party in the coalition with Schüssel's Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). The Freedom Party had finished second in the 1999 election, so its leader, Jörg Haider, should have become Chancellor in any coalition with the ÖVP which finished third. However, Haider yielded to Schüssel in order to appease international opinion. Although this should have put him in line to become Vice-Chancellor, he realised he was too controversial to have any role in the government. He thus resigned as party leader in favour of Riess-Passer, who had been FPÖ managing chairwoman since 1996.

In the course of the formation of the government in 2000, she became chairwoman and leader of the FPÖ. She was known for being loyal to Haider,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/02/opinion/resignation-ploy-in-austria.html?src=pm |title=Resignation Ploy in Austria| work=New York Times |date= March 2, 2000|accessdate=2011-01-14 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2515317.stm |title= The politician who cries wolf |work= BBC News |first= Catherine|last= Miller|date= November 26, 2002|access-date=2011-01-14 }}</ref> which earned her the nickname ''Königskobra'' (King Cobra).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2000/mar/02/features11.g29 |title=No 1586 Susanne Riess-Passer | newspaper= The Guardian |date= March 2, 2000 |accessdate=2011-01-14 }}</ref>

After severe disagreements with her former political mentor Haider in Summer 2002<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2002-09-18/world/austria.freedom_1_susanne-riess-passer-freedom-party-joerg-haider?_s=PM:WORLD |title=Austrian far-right picks new chief |work=CNNWorld |date=September 18, 2002 |access-date=2011-01-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003002617/http://articles.cnn.com/2002-09-18/world/austria.freedom_1_susanne-riess-passer-freedom-party-joerg-haider?_s=PM:WORLD |archive-date=October 3, 2012 }}</ref> (the so-called Knittelfeld Putsch), she resigned from all of her posts, as did finance minister Karl-Heinz Grasser and the party spokesman in parliament, Peter Westenthaler.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/09/world/austrian-far-right-leaders-resign-shaking-up-governing-coalition.html?src=pm |title=Austrian Far-Right Leaders Resign, Shaking Up Governing Coalition|newspaper= New York Times|date= September 9, 2002 |accessdate=2011-01-14 }}</ref> After the 2002 elections, she remained Vice Chancellor on a provisional basis until the coalition between ÖVP and FPÖ was renewed in early 2003, and has since had no involvement in politics.

Since 2004, Riess-Passer has been the CEO of the Wüstenrot-Gruppe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.signa.at/index.php?id=306&L=1 |work=SIGNA Holding|title= Dr. Susanne Riess-Passer |publisher=www.signa.at |accessdate=2011-01-14 }}</ref> Riess-Hahn was also on the advisory board of the later bankrupt Signa Holding.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bei der Signa verschwinden wichtige Informationen von der Website |url=https://www.derstandard.de/story/3000000197293/bei-der-signa-verschwinden-wichtige-informationen-von-der-website |access-date=2023-12-04 |website=DER STANDARD |language=de-AT}}</ref>

thumb|Susanne Riess (2008)

== Personal life == In 2022 she married European Commissioner Johannes Hahn.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://boerse-social.com/2022/08/06/hochzeit_dr_susanne_riess-hahn_und_dr_johannes_hahn |title=Hochzeit Dr. Susanne Riess-Hahn und Dr. Johannes Hahn |date=2022-08-06|accessdate=2022-08-06|publisher=Börse Social Network|language=de}}</ref>

==References==

{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |before = Wolfgang Schüssel |title = Vice Chancellor of Austria |years = 2000–2003 |after = Herbert Haupt }} {{s-ppo}} {{succession box |before = Jörg Haider |title = Chair of the Freedom Party |years = 2000–2002 |after = Mathias Reichhold }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riess, Susanne}} Category:1961 births Category:Living people Susanne Riess Category:Vice-chancellors of Austria Category:People from Braunau am Inn Category:20th-century Austrian women politicians Category:20th-century Austrian politicians Category:21st-century Austrian women politicians Category:21st-century Austrian politicians