Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) is under political pressure because she took her adult son on a government helicopter trip to North Friesland in April. Immediately afterwards she went on holiday to Sylt with her son. CDU leader Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday that if Lambrecht were as eager to do everything in her official business “as when she took her son with her, then the defense and the Bundeswehr would be better off in this country”.
According to the Ministry of Defence, Lambrecht is allowed to take companions with him. In this case, the costs were also assumed by her. Nevertheless, Lambrecht’s behavior caused irritation not only in the opposition, but also in the coalition and in the Bundeswehr.
The chairwoman of the defense committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), said the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Lambrecht’s approach was probably “legally correct”. But politicians also know that “not everything that is legally correct can be explained to the public.” A general even told the SZ that he thought the minister’s behavior was “incredible”.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice told SZ that Lambrecht “was accompanied by her son on a total of seven trips abroad” during her time at the head of the Justice Department. She “always attached great importance to the fact that all costs incurred by accompanying her son were billed separately and paid for privately by her”. According to picture-Zeitung, the seven trips went to Slovenia, Finland, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Luxembourg, France and the Czech Republic. The assessment basis for the costs is the amount of the normal fare for Lufthansa, economy class, on the specific or a comparable route.
There are “things that you just don’t do,” says Thorsten Frei
The minister must now “ensure transparency as soon as possible,” demanded CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt. It is already clear, however, that their behavior has “a taste” and shows a “lack of tact”, said the first parliamentary manager of the Union faction, Thorsten Frei (CDU). Because there are “things that you just don’t do”. Her son’s travels are a “maximum clumsiness”.
Frei said he found this “very regrettable” because it affected a minister who was under a lot of pressure “with regard to aid for Ukraine” and the upgrading of the Bundeswehr and who actually “should concentrate” on these enormous challenges. However, Lambrecht has “proven several times in the past” that she lacks the right instinct in “many things”, so the new case unfortunately “fits into her work in this legislative period”. The Union has been sharply criticizing the defense minister’s work for weeks.
Support for Lambrecht, however, comes from within their own ranks. The defense politician Wolfgang Hellmich (SPD) told the SZ that the matter was clarified for him with the explanations from the Ministry of Defense. Lambrecht is legally nothing to blame. He also contradicted the accusation that the minister would not take proper care of the Bundeswehr. “She deals with a lot of questions and has worked her knee-deep into it.” SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich said that the minister seemed to have “done everything right”. Lambrecht was experienced enough that she would have done everything for “transparency and also legality”.
According to her ministry, on April 13, Lambrecht visited the troops, including the 911 Electronic Warfare Battalion in North Friesland, and had himself flown by helicopter from the Berlin office to Ladelund. The Internet portal Business Insider first reported that her son was also on board the machine.