Lambrecht successor: Day of the decision | tagesschau.de

Chancellor Scholz apparently wants to announce the successor to the outgoing Defense Minister Lambrecht today. There is speculation about a number of names – there could also be a novelty. The circle of possible successors is getting smaller.

Following the resignation of Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to announce his successor today. Labor Minister Hubertus Heil said yesterday in the ARD-Broadcast Hard but fair, the chancellor will announce the personnel details quickly – “namely tomorrow”. “There will be no deadlock,” emphasized the SPD politician.

The FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann said in the daily topics with a view to Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, the vacuum must be filled immediately.

Scholz: “I have a clear idea”

The defense minister, who had been criticized for months, wrote on Monday morning that she had asked Scholz to be released. The question of the successor initially remained unanswered. However, Scholz said: “I have a clear idea and it will become known very quickly to everyone how this should continue.”

SPD leader Lars Klingbeil, head of the chancellery Wolfgang Schmidt and labor minister Heil as well as the military commissioner Eva Högl and the parliamentary state secretary in the defense ministry, Siemtje Möller, were discussed as possible candidates for the successor.

According to information from ARD Capital Studios However, Heil, Klingbeil and Schmidt are not eligible for the post. Högl and Möller are still in the running.

Pistorius and Breuer are also mentioned

in the ARD morning magazine stressed Correspondent Michael Strempelthat one is still at the stage of speculation. “New names are still appearing, but there aren’t any really good, reliable sources.” The Interior Minister of Lower Saxony, Boris Pistorius, was also named. It is said about him that he is not a defense politician, but is considered assertive in the SPD.

“More interesting was the thought that it could also be someone from the Bundeswehr itself,” Strempel reported. General Carsten Breuer, who managed the Corona task force for Chancellor Scholz, was mentioned there. “That would be a novelty in the history of the Federal Republic.” No active military has ever moved to the top of the Defense Department.

It has not yet been officially announced when and how Scholz will announce the personnel decision.

SPD women’s organization calls for parity in the cabinet

The women’s organization of the SPD insisted on maintaining the parity composition of the federal cabinet – that is, an equal number of men and women as ministers. “A society that consists of more than 50 percent women must also be reflected in the cabinet,” said the chairwoman of the working group of social democratic women, Maria Noichl, of the “Rheinische Post”. “Fifty-fifty must continue to apply. That’s what the SPD stands for.”

The CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter pointed out that representatives of Ukraine’s western allies will meet at the US Ramstein Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate on Friday. Anyone who succeeds Lambrecht must “immediately take over the leadership and coordination of military support to Ukraine or at least end the German blockade,” Kiesewetter told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “Because Germany should finally take the lead in coordinating a ‘Leopard’ alliance in order to live up to its self-imposed claim to a leadership role.”

Strack-Zimmermann, chairwoman of the Bundestag’s Defense Committee, has repeatedly called for action on the battle tank issue. The linchpin remains the chancellery, she emphasized in the ARD. She hopes that a decision will be made very quickly now. “The Europeans and also the NATO countries expect leadership from Germany.”

Row of construction sites in the Ministry of Defense

Lambrecht leaves the future department head with a whole series of construction sites. The modernization of the Bundeswehr is just beginning with the help of the 100 billion euro special fund. So far, only contracts for a good ten billion euros have been concluded. Chancellor Scholz announced the rearmament after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

It is also still unclear how the arms deliveries to Ukraine will continue. After the federal government recently decided to supply “Marder” armored personnel carriers, the current debates revolve around providing the attacked country with “Leopard” battle tanks.

Deficiencies in numerous weapon systems, such as the “Puma” infantry fighting vehicle, and difficulties in procuring ammunition are also permanent problems for the troops. The orderly withdrawal from the UN mission MINUSMA in Mali is also on the agenda of the future “Ibuk”, the holder of the authority to command and command. According to a decision by the federal government, this should happen by May 2024.