He was in a relationship with Schröder’s ex
This is how the new German Defense Minister Pistorius ticks
Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister Boris Pistorius (62) takes over in the German Ministry of Defence. Unlike his predecessor, the Bundeswehr is nothing new for him: as a young man he did military service.
Published: 22 minutes ago
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Applies as an advocate of a strict security policy: SPD politician Boris Pistorius.
Nobody expected him: Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister Boris Pistorius (62) will take over the post of Defense Minister in Berlin. The SPD politician succeeds Christine Lambrecht (57), who resigned on Monday after an unprecedented series of breakdowns.
Pistorius has been Minister of the Interior in Lower Saxony since 2013. His third term of office began a few months ago. From 2006 to 2013 he was mayor of the city of Osnabrück. Pistorius is considered an experienced political manager. In the past few years, Pistorius has gained a reputation as a knowledgeable specialist politician among the interior ministers of the federal and state governments. Even though he always stayed in Lower Saxony, he was also involved in the internal political positioning of the federal SPD in election campaigns and in coalition negotiations.
Ideal cast for “ejection seat”
At the conferences of interior ministers, Pistorius, who is considered pragmatic, always visibly enjoyed arguing with conservatives like the former CSU Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (73) on the open stage, quick-witted, with pointed remarks, but never disrespectful. Pistorius may also be the ideal person for the post because of his age. At the age of 62, a politician can finally move into the chief office of the Ministry of Defence, which is generally regarded as an ejection seat and therefore a potential career killer.
Pistorius was repeatedly said to have ambitions for a political office at the federal level. For example, there were rumors that he could become federal interior minister if the current incumbent, Nancy Faeser (52), runs for the SPD in the state elections in Hesse.
That’s how he made a name for himself
As Minister of the Interior of Lower Saxony, Pistorius was involved in the fight against Islamic terrorism. In 2017, he ordered two German-born Muslims to be deported before they committed a crime. The case attracted a great deal of attention. The suspects were accused of planning a terrorist attack. Weapons, ammunition, flags of the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) and data carriers were confiscated during house searches.
The 62-year-old is campaigning for a significant increase in the number of personnel in the Federal Police and for better combating of crime on the Internet. In a priority program on domestic politics of the SPD, he advocated the creation of an EU police force based on the model of the US federal police force, the FBI. Pistorius also advocates data retention on the Internet. There is “due to the security requirements, an urgent need to access telecommunications data,” said the SPD politician in an interview.
Heavy blow of fate
Pistorius became a member of the SPD at the age of 16. After graduating from high school, he trained as a merchant in wholesale and foreign trade. From 1980 to 1981 he did military service in the Bundeswehr. From 1981 he studied law at the University of Osnabrück and the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster.
Privately, Pistorius suffered a severe blow of fate in August 2015: his wife Sabine Pistorius († 54), with whom he has two daughters, died of cancer. A year later it became public that Pistorius had entered into a relationship with the ex-wife of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (78), Doris Schröder-Köpf (59). In the spring of 2022, Schröder-Köpf and Pistorius separated “in peace and friendship”.
Pistorius will receive his certificate of appointment from Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (67) on Thursday and will take his oath of office in the Bundestag. (noo/SDA)