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According to media reports, Christine Lambrecht will soon announce her resignation.
Chiara SchlenzEditor News
The German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (57) wants to resign, as “Bild” reports, citing several sources. According to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, the resignation should take place next week. According to a survey, the majority of Germans support Lambrecht’s resignation. This emerged from the ZDF “Politbarometer” published on Friday. According to this, 60 percent of those surveyed were in favor of the minister resigning; 25 percent opposed it. Even within the SPD, 50 percent were in favor of resigning; 38 percent were in favor of staying in office.
Lambrecht is said to have taken the initiative himself – not the Chancellery. Now only the exact time of her resignation is to be determined. Her successor has also been discussed. The newspaper names military commissioner Eva Högl (54), also a social democrat, as a possible successor.
A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Defense said on Friday evening when asked by the AFP news agency: “These are rumors that we do not comment on.” Lambrecht herself and her department have not yet officially commented on the report.
Lambrecht did not endear herself as Secretary of Defense. Since taking office in December 2021, she has had to take a lot of criticism. An overview of the faux pas made by the “Breakdown Minister”.
Puma breakdown in the Bundeswehr
The German “Puma” tanks in action.
A report by the Ministry of Defense in Germany recently caused a stir. In this it was admitted that the Bundeswehr’s 18 “Puma” tanks lacked robustness and reliability. Previous experience with the devices would show “that this highly complex weapon system in its current state of construction can only be operated with a closely interlinked technical and logistical concept consisting of troops, army repair logistics, project management and industry”. In plain English: At the present time, the Bundeswehr tanks are incredibly complex and complicated.
During a maneuver at the end of December in Lower Saxony, 17 of the 18 “pumas” failed, as reported by the German media. Means: The tank model is currently not operational. However, the Ministry of Defense assured that a top-level meeting with all those involved would soon be convened and a solution sought.
Scandal speech on New Year’s Eve
Video is heavily criticized: Christine Lambrecht gives a speech with fireworks in the background(00:59)
At the turn of the year, Lambrecht was caught in the crossfire for her misplaced New Year’s Eve speech. In the midst of whistling New Year’s Eve rockets, exploding firecrackers and colorful light spectacles, she summed up the past, bloody year as follows: “A war is raging in the middle of Europe. And that was linked to a lot of special impressions that I was able to gain, many, many encounters with interesting and great people. I would like to say a big thank you for that.”
Criticism was not long in coming: CDU defense politician Serap Güler (42) called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz (64) on Twitter to dismiss Lambrecht. «The speech about the war with New Year’s Eve firecrackers in the background only tops off her series of embarrassments. Therefore: Every further minute in which the Chancellor still holds on to this minister and thus further damages the reputation of our country goes to his account. » The federal government refrained from commenting on Lambrecht’s video.
Military faux pas after military faux pas
The Defense Minister also criticized the German Bundeswehr.
Even in the Ukraine war, the defense minister cannot prove herself. When 200,000 Russian soldiers were transferred to the Ukrainian border in January 2022, Lambrecht ordered 5,000 helmets to be delivered to Ukraine. “Image” wrote at the time: “A disgrace!”
And while Scholz and other politicians proclaimed the “turn of the era” in the course of the war, Lambrecht spoke of “disarmament policy”. An officer told “Spiegel”: Under Lambrecht, the Ministry of Defense and the Bundeswehr leadership “fell into a deep lethargy”. He compares the situation with sepsis, i.e. life-threatening blood poisoning – in the officer’s imagery, the first organs even threatened to die off.
In December it became known that the Bundeswehr was missing ammunition worth 20 to 30 million euros, as reported by the editorial network Germany. Furthermore, she is said to have taken care of the purchase of the stealth bomber F-35 much too late.
Debunked helicopter lie
Lambrecht Junior in the federal government’s helicopter.
Lambrecht is known for taking her son, Alexander Lambrecht (21), with him on business trips. This was also the case on Easter 2022, when she traveled to Ladelund (North Friesland) to pay a visit to the 911 Electronic Warfare Battalion. This is reported by the business portal Business Insider. He proudly posed on Instagram in the government helicopter, which costs around CHF 5,600 per flight hour.
Immediately after the business trip, a few days of vacation followed on the North Sea island of Sylt, which is only a stone’s throw away from North Friesland. Criticism rained down – even legal action was considered. A Bundeswehr lawyer says to “Bild” that by publishing the photo, the minister or her son could have violated the Criminal Code, more precisely the article “Security-endangering depiction of military equipment”. The fear: Spies could see technical details of the helicopter on the photo.
For months she also denied that she had taken her son’s picture herself – until a court recently forced her to do so, as “Bild” writes.