Defense Minister in Lithuania: More crisis than Christmas stollen

The new Defense Minister Lambrecht wanted to get to know the troops on her first trip abroad to Lithuania and deliver Christmas greetings. But Russian threats overshadow the visit.

The new defense minister stands in front of a real monster vehicle – the four-meter-high armored heavy-duty transporter “Mammut” – and asks for patience: “Thank you very much for introducing it to me. And see if I can asked amateur questions. ” Christine Lambrecht has just seen an armored personnel carrier and an anti-aircraft missile from the NATO task force in Lithuania, and she even got into a rolling command post herself.

Sergeant Julia introduced the SPD politician to an armored ambulance – the exchange was too short for her to be able to say too much about the “newcomer” in office, she admits: “The first impression is positive at first – we will move on see how she’s doing. “

How to deal with Russia?

In any case, Lambrecht is doing a lot of things these days for the first time, and that includes not only trying out armored vehicles or dialogues with the troops: She has to face the question of how Germany and NATO should deal with Russia. An old question, but one that has become very topical since President Vladimir Putin deployed more than 70,000 soldiers near the Ukrainian border.

The SPD politician emphasizes that she chose Lithuania – that is, Eastern Europe – as the destination of her first trip abroad: “In order to send a clear signal: That we stand by our allies, that the EU and NATO do not diverge And that we react very carefully, but also very consistently, to aggressions from Russia. “

Only: How exactly Germany, the EU and NATO should react to the latest threatening gestures has not yet been decided. Ideas are circulating within the military alliance instead of making concessions to Putin to further strengthen NATO’s eastern flank. Lambrecht’s Lithuanian counterpart Arvydas Anusauskas announced that he could imagine delivering lethal weapons to Ukraine.

Double strategy of pressure and dialogue

What the German minister says sounds like the well-known dual strategy of pressure and dialogue, of an offer of talks and deterrence. Without it being clear in which of the two scales Christine Lambrecht will put more weight: “At the moment the time is to reflect diplomatically and about sanctions and to clearly point them out. But we also have to keep an eye on military deterrence,” emphasizes the SPD politician in Rukla in front of journalists. With which she is initially keeping all doors open for herself and the federal government in dealing with Moscow. It comes as no surprise that after just ten days in office she is carefully probing the issue.

Respect for soldiers

In any case, Russia is the reason why the Bundeswehr is even present in Lithuania: In response to the annexation of Crimea at the beginning of 2017, NATO dispatched four rotating combat units to the eastern flank. In Lithuania, the roughly 570 soldiers of the Bundeswehr lead the way.

You also spend the holidays here: “It is a special challenge to be a soldier in such an operation. That you notice that over the Christmas season, for that, we have all our respect,” said the minister at the end of her visit Hundreds of soldiers seated in front of tables covered with red candles and Christmas stollen turned.

Whether, in view of the global situation in the NATO task force, the Christmas spirit can really arise is another question.