Anna van der Sar

Anna van der Sar is the current Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Neu Westfalen, becoming the first female and only non-Christian to hold the position. A National Conservative from Evelstadt, her first term in office ran from September 18th, 2009 to December 14th, 2013. She then returned to office on July 25th, 2014 after successfully defeating Margot Schweitzer in a court-ordered Chancellery re-election; after the incumbent had been mired in a political scandal involving the previous election. On November 11, 2017 van der Sar was again reelected as Chancellor, with 56.3% of the national vote.

She is the only Chancellor to govern over two non-consecutive terms, serving as both the 12th and 14th Chancellor of Neu Westfalen. On both occassions van der Sar campaigned on a platform of transparent governance, increased investment in science, technology & agriculture, restricting immigration levels and to continue Neu Westfalen's non-interventionist approach to international politics. During her first term she also served as the Federal Minister of National Security and Intelligence, and has resumed this position since the beginning of her second term.

Personal life
Anna was born in Evelstadt, Neu Westfalen to Jacob Zielke and Helena Zielke (née Syring) on the 29th of September, 1975. Her education includes a PhD in Philosophy and Political Science from Evelstadt University, and later served as a diplomat for the Neu Westfalen government between 1999 to 2006. Prior to this she worked as a farm-hand in the Evehalden Alps to help pay for her studies. She married Wilhelm van der Sar on the 25th of November, 2002 (age 27) and has since given birth to a boy and a girl; Sascha & Adele respectively.

Her earliest known ancestors were 19th century ethnic German colonists from Wrocław, Silesia (modern day Poland); which was at the time a part of the German Empire. In 1876 they settled in Evelstadt, where their descendants have lived ever since.

Chancellery plane crash
On the 28th of September 2013 the VIP transport jet of the Chancellery crashed in the Evehalden Alps with van der Sar, her assistant, Energy Minister Dominik Jentzsch, three members of her security team and two pilots on board. 16 days later rescue teams located the crash site, finding the bodies of one pilot and a security serviceman, both had survived the initial impact but later died of hypothermia. The remainder of the survivors had left the crash-site six days after impact, leaving a note in the wreckage informing rescuers they intended to find their own way to safety; due to the extremely cold temperatures which had become unbearable.

After trekking across the Evehalden Alps for over a week, the survivors tumbled 25 meters into an ice crevasse. Energy Minister Dominik Jentzsch died during the fall after hitting his head against the ice, whilst van der Sar herself suffered a concussion and a sprained ankle. They remained in the ice crevasse for five days until a rescue team heard their cries for help and pulled them out, ending their frozen ordeal on the 26th of October. All five survivors were suffering from hunger and exposure related illnesses but would eventually make a full recovery.

Political Views
Van der Sar is a firm believer in Neu Westfalen's neutrality policy, direct democracy, nonpartisanism, free speech and meritocratic principles. Despite steady popular support domestically, her critical views on the European Union, NATO, US foreign policy, globalization, mass-surveillance, mass-immigration and Islamism have occasionally caused controversy. She is also known for her tough stance against Tobacco and illegal narcotics, and has spearheaded Neu Westfalen's goal of becoming a smoke-free nation by 2022.

Fiscally-speaking van der Sar is considered mildly protectionist, supporting targeted trade tariffs to protect domestic businesses against cheaper foreign competitors. Although she has also backed several free-trade deals with other AIN members, including supporting Neu Westfalen's entry into the Treaty of Alliance Economic Integration in 2017.

In 2015 she announced the the defence-budget would be capped at below 3% of national GDP, which has since been achieved.

She is often described as being pro-agrarianist due to her frequent support for agricultural interests. In 2010 van der Sar successfully passed into law the "agricultural water quality bill", which requires all waterways passing-through agricultural areas to have native flora planted along their embankments by 2016. Since the policy was enacted, overall nitrate levels in the nation's waterways have since dropped by 27%; marking the first reduction since recording began in 1986.

Van der Sar supports Neu Westfalen's current mixed-model of energy-generation, placing emphasis on developing safer and more powerful Nuclear technologies (such as Thorium and Fusion). Since taking office she has doubled the budget of the Neu Westfalen Nuclear Fusion Research Facility, as well as increasing overall Hydrogen power production from 2% to 4% of the national total.

She is a critic of multiculturalism and has criticized the liberal immigration policies of many western nations, citing them as "reckless and highly destructive to economic and social stability". Instead van der Sar supports limited immigration quotas, primarily from other developed nations, with the aim of slowly integrating migrants into the native culture. Her monoculturalist policies are often regarded by critics as xenophobic, van der Sar however attributes Neu Westfalen's lack of racial integration issues and parallel societies to it's high level of cultural homogeneity.

Religion
Anna converted to Confucianism at age 18. Despite being raised in a Catholic family, she would eventually reject Theism entirely, and later went on to develop an interest in Confucianism during a trip to China. This also reflects the growth of the Chinese philosophy in Neu Westfalen since the 1970's, now numbering 1.8% of the population. Many contribute this to its meritocratic ideals, which are also enshrined in Neu Westfalen's constitution.