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{{Short description|Political office, head of the executive branch of a sovereign country or federal state}}

{{Distinguish|Resident minister}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2025}}
{{Executive}}
A '''minister-president''' or '''minister president''' is the [[head of government]] in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a [[parliamentary system|parliamentary]] or [[semi-presidential system|semi-presidential]] system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It is an alternative term for [[prime minister]], [[premier]], [[chief minister]], or [[first minister]] and very similar to the title of [[president of the council of ministers]].

== Terminology ==
In English-speaking countries, similar institutions may be called premiers or first ministers (typically at the subnational level) or prime ministers (typically at the national level). The plural is sometimes formed by adding an ''s'' to ''minister'' and sometimes by adding an ''s'' to ''president''.

The term is used, for instance, as a translation ([[calque]]) of the German word {{lang|de|Ministerpräsident}}.{{NoteTag|Common nouns are capitalized in German, though they are sometimes lowercased when referred to in English texts.}}

== Austria ==
{{see also|List of minister-presidents of Austria}}
From 1867 to 1918, the first minister of the government was known as {{lang|de|Ministerpräsident}} (minister-president), before that {{lang|de|[[Staatskanzler]]}} (state chancellor). Today the head of the [[Austrian Federal Government]] is called the {{lang|de|[[Chancellor of Austria|Bundeskanzler]]}} (federal chancellor), while the head of a state government is called the {{lang|de|[[Landeshauptmann]]}} (literally 'state captain'), not {{lang|de|Ministerpräsident}}. In the [[city-state]] of [[Vienna]] the head of the state government is called the {{lang|de|Bürgermeister und Landeshauptmann}} (Mayor and state captain).

== Belgium ==
The term minister-president ({{langx|nl|minister-president}}, {{langx|fr|ministre-président}}, {{langx|de|Ministerpräsident}}) is also used in [[Belgium]] to describe the head of government of a Belgian [[Communities, regions and provinces of Belgium|region or linguistic community]], but not the head of the [[Belgian federal government]] who is referred to as the [[Prime Minister of Belgium|prime minister]] ({{langx|nl|eerste minister}}, {{langx|fr|premier ministre}}, {{langx|de|Premierminister}}).

According to the [[Belgian constitution]], the federal prime minister is appointed by the king, and approved by the federal parliament with a vote of confidence (in practice the king usually appoints the leader of the winning party as {{lang|fr|formateur}} to form a government). The federal ministers later swear an oath of allegiance to the king. The minister-presidents of the regions and linguistic communities are not appointed by the king, but are directly appointed by their respective parliament. Ministers of the regions and linguistic communities are not required to swear allegiance to the king but simply take an oath in their respective parliament.

See:
* [[Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region]]
* [[Minister-President of Flanders]]
* [[Minister-President of the French Community]]
* [[Minister-President of Wallonia]]
* [[Minister-President of the German-speaking Community]]

== Germany ==
{{See also|List of current heads of government of the German federal states}}
A [[Minister President (Germany)|Minister President]] ({{lang|de|Ministerpräsident}}) is the [[head of government]] in 13 of the 16 [[States of Germany]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bildung |first1=Bundeszentrale für politische |title=Ministerpräsident/Ministerpräsidentin |url=https://www.bpb.de/kurz-knapp/lexika/lexikon-in-einfacher-sprache/249977/ministerpraesident-ministerpraesidentin/ |website=bpb.de |access-date=5 June 2025 |language=de}}</ref> Exceptions are the [[city-states]] of [[Berlin]], [[Hamburg]] and  [[Bremen (state)|Bremen]], where the head of government is called, respectively, the [[Governing Mayor of Berlin|Governing Mayor]] ({{lang|de|Regierender Bürgermeister}}), [[List of mayors of Hamburg|First Mayor]] ({{lang|de|Erster Bürgermeister}}) and [[List of mayors of Bremen|Mayor and President of the Senate]] ({{lang|de|Bürgermeister und Präsident des Senates}}). On the federal level, the head of the federal government (with an effectively identical function as leader of the cabinet) is called the Chancellor or Federal [[Chancellor#Germany|Chancellor]] ({{lang|de|Kanzler}} or {{lang|de|Bundeskanzler}}). The positions of Minister-president in the German states (during the monarchy days) were mostly established in response to the [[German revolutions of 1848–1849|1848 German revolutions]]. The [[Minister-President of Prussia]] usually served simultaneously as the [[Chancellor of the German Empire|Imperial Chancellor]].

== Hungary ==
The title of Hungary's [[Prime Minister of Hungary|head of government]] in Hungarian is {{lang|hu|miniszterelnök}} which literally translated means "minister-president". However, because "prime minister" or "premier" is the more usual title in a parliamentary system for a head of government in English-speaking nations, {{lang|hu|miniszterelnök}} is almost always translated as "prime minister."

== Latvia ==
The Minister president is the [[head of government]]. "Minister-President" in the [[Constitution of Latvia]] of February 15, 1922, arose when the German term {{lang|de|Ministerpräsident}} (minister-president) was translated; the term {{lang|lv|ministru prezidents}} (literally 'president of ministers', in Latvian) was coined by the member of the [[Constitutional Assembly of Latvia]], Latvian writer [[Kārlis Skalbe]].

== Netherlands ==
In the [[Netherlands]] the [[Prime Minister of the Netherlands|prime minister]] is officially referred to as "minister-president", although the informal term "premier" is also frequently used. His responsibilities are defined in the constitution of 1848 as the {{lang|nl|voorzitter van de ministerraad}} ('chair of the council of ministers'). The title of minister-president has been in use since 1945 and officially added to the constitution in 1983.

== Norway ==
In [[Norway]], [[Vidkun Quisling]], head of the [[Quisling regime|collaborationist government]] from 1942 to 1945 during the [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany|occupation]] in [[World War II]], held the title of Minister-President ({{langx|no|ministerpresident}}).

== Russian Republic ==
During the short lived [[Russian Republic]], the role of a Minister-President was established. [[Alexander Kerensky]] was chosen to lead the provisional government.

== Notes ==
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== References ==
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{{Types of heads of government}}

[[Category:Gubernatorial titles]]
[[Category:Heads of government]]
[[Category:Positions of subnational authority]]
[[Category:Titles of national or ethnic leadership]]
[[Category:Minister-presidents of communities and regions of Belgium]]