During her 13-month tenure, and while Germany has harbored high ambitions for its army since Russia invaded Ukraine, this former justice minister has multiplied the mistakes.
His repeated blunders wiped out his place in government. Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht declared her resignation to Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a press statement on Monday, January 16. “The media’s focus on me for months hardly allows for factual reporting and discussion about the soldiers, the Bundeswehr and the security policy decisions in the interests of the German citizens,” complains Christine Lambrecht in her statement. The name of his or her successor is not yet known.
In her opinion, “the valuable work of the soldiers and the many motivated people must be in the foreground”, since Germany wants to invest 100 billion euros in the modernization of its army after the war in Ukraine. This resignation comes at a time when Germany is under renewed pressure to supply tanks to Ukraine.
In the 13 months in the ministry, the slips of the 57-year-old former Minister of Justice increased, culminating in a failed greeting on New Year’s Eve, which caused a stir even in her party. The video was considered tasteless because it was shot on a Berlin sidewalk amidst a deafening bang of firecrackers while the war in Ukraine raged on. The background is also problematic: the minister said she was grateful for “meeting interesting and wonderful people” who “allowed” her to go to war in Ukraine.
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“Casting Error”
In the spring, she got into trouble because she took her adult son on vacation to the German island of Sylt in a Bundeswehr helicopter. With the announcement shortly before the Russian aggression of February 24, 2022 that thousands of helmets would be sent to Ukrainians who were more likely to expect arms deliveries, the minister also made himself look ridiculous.
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But for observers, the problem is more fundamental: The minister “had difficulties finding her place in the world of the Bundeswehr,” estimates the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ). After the February 24 invasion, Olaf Scholz announced an “era change” for German defenses in chronic underinvestment. A special fund of 100 billion euros was set up to modernize the Bundeswehr. Christine Lambrecht “understood that she could not complete the change of era within the Bundeswehr,” the SZ cut out.