Nikolas Löbel

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Nikolas Löbel (born 17 May 1986 in Mannheim) is a German politician from the Christian Democrats (CDU). He served as a member of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg from October 2017 until March 2021, representing the Mannheim district. In Parliament he worked on foreign affairs and arms control and was the CDU’s spokesperson on the EU’s Eastern Partnership.

In 2020–2021 Löbel faced a major scandal. It was reported that a company he owned earned a 250,000 euro commission by arranging a PPE deal between a German mask supplier and Chinese firms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Facing strong public and party pressure, he stepped down from the Foreign Affairs Committee and then resigned from the Bundestag and his CDU membership in March 2021. He said he would retire from politics. The case became known in Germany as the “Maskenaffäre” (mask scandal).

Earlier in his career, Löbel supported a CDU–Green coalition in Baden-Württemberg led by Winfried Kretschmann. He also faced criticism for a planned sponsorship by a student network connected to Azerbaijan in 2012, which was dropped after concerns about the funding source. Löbel had taken pro-Azerbaijan positions during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, describing Azerbaijan as an important strategic partner for Germany, including as a gas supplier, and downplaying human rights criticisms.

An investigation by the Stuttgart public prosecutor found no initial evidence linking his private business to his duties as a member of the Bundestag.