The former Federal Minister of Defense had no access to the soldiers.
(Photo: dpa)
The resignation of Christine Lambrecht is good news for Olaf Scholz. In the end, the Defense Minister’s trust capital was used up, among the citizens, the Eastern European allies and the other NATO allies. At the start of the traffic light coalition, the chancellor had prophesied that she would become a “very, very special Defense Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany”. That was certainly due to the euphoria at the start of the traffic light coalition. Now Lambrecht’s bankruptcies are also affecting him.
Even her resignation failed. The minister sees the blame in the “media focus” on her person. But it was not the journalists who put their son in the government helicopter to Sylt and photographed it for social media. Nor were there any journalists who filmed the completely unsuccessful New Year’s Eve video on Alexanderplatz in Berlin. Apart from that, that alone would not have been enough to overthrow the minister. In the case of Lambrecht, one thing in particular was decisive for her resignation: she had no idea about the military and never found contact with the soldiers. In the Ukraine war with all its upheavals, she seemed driven. The resignation was overdue.
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht: She cannot resign herself
One can hardly remember successful federal defense ministers. Peter Struck is still considered the ideal candidate. The SPD politician left office in 2005. That was almost 18 years ago now.
The result is the smallest and worst-equipped Bundeswehr of all time. Nobody cared, it was convenient. In 2017, after a meeting with then-US President Donald Trump, former Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that the days when Germany could rely on others were a bit long gone. That’s it. Appropriately enough, the chancellor said that in a Munich beer tent. I guess it wasn’t that important.
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Everything has changed since Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and now the post at the head of the Ministry of Defense is of great importance. Even if Lambrecht goes – the problems remain. She or he must fill the “turning point” proclaimed by Chancellor Scholz with life, reform the Bundeswehr and, above all, build trust again.
What does it take? Whoever steps up to the head of the Bundeswehr should first of all dare to form their own opinion. “Owd – Olaf wants that”, with this abbreviation Scholz once ruled as mayor in Hamburg and probably also in the chancellery. There must be agreements between the defense department and the chancellery. But the abbreviation “Owd” should be a thing of the past. Just like the back and forth in positioning on the tank issue for Ukraine. Above all, the latter requires European cooperation and not a rush like France did recently, when Scholz seemed taken by surprise and with his promise to deliver the Marder infantry fighting vehicle looked old enough.
Whoever succeeds Lambrecht, the chancellor and the new head of the military department should remember that the Bundeswehr is not a government army, but a parliamentary army. The Union provided the defense ministers for Merkel’s 16 years and is therefore also responsible for the ailing state of the Bundeswehr. But the soldiers need the full support of the Bundestag. The citizens in uniform deserve it.
More: These are now the contenders for the Lambrecht successor