After the second shortest term in office in the defense department, Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) asked Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to dismiss her – he wants to quickly clarify the successor. “The media focus on my person for months hardly allows factual reporting and discussion about the soldiers, the Bundeswehr and security policy decisions in the interests of the citizens of Germany,” emphasized Lambrecht in her written resignation. Scholz accepted the request.
It is expected that Chancellor Scholz will present a successor this Tuesday. “I have a clear idea and everyone will know very quickly how this should continue,” he said at an appointment in Ulm on Monday.
The candidates, Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil and Head of the Chancellery Wolfgang Schmidt, who were initially considered promising, were seen as rather unlikely options in the SPD on Monday. Since the office is considered the most difficult to fill in the federal government at this time, several candidates are said to have signaled that they were not interested. SPD leader Lars Klingbeil and military commissioner Eva Högl were also recently traded as options.
He worked “well and gladly” with Lambrecht, says Scholz
It is unclear whether Scholz could deviate from the previous parity of eight ministers in the cabinet. The Chancellor was traveling in Baden-Württemberg on Monday, visiting a brewery and the Hensoldt armaments company. There he said that he had already made up his mind.
He paid great respect to Lambrecht and thanked her. “I have worked well and happily with Christine Lambrecht for many, many years.” After the start of the Russian war in Ukraine, Lambrecht “worked with tremendous commitment to ensure that paths that had been trampled on for decades were left and that we managed to make the big breakthrough that is important for our national defense, but also for supporting Ukraine”.
In SPD circles, it was not ruled out that Scholz could also present a rather unexpected solution. He is known for clarifying such personnel issues in a very small circle, so the SPD chairmen Klingbeil and Saskia Esken and his confidant Wolfgang Schmidt were closely involved.
The alliance partners are also counting on rapid clarity, because US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is expected in Berlin next Thursday, and on Friday the so-called Ukraine contact group will meet at the US base in Ramstein in Rhineland-Palatinate to discuss further deliveries of weapons and tanks to advise Ukraine. It is with great concern that Russia is further intensifying its attacks. More than 40 people died in an air raid in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro over the weekend.
Difficult tasks await Lambrecht’s successor
The Polish government is insisting that Berlin take a quick decision on the delivery of Leopard-2-Battle tank hits. Since they come from German production, this approval is required. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is also taking part in the meeting, and it could be the premiere for his successor on the international stage. Lambrecht is the owner of command and authority until she has received her certificate of dismissal from Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Whoever follows Lambrecht will hardly have time to get used to it. The surrender of tanks, artillery pieces, rocket launchers and ammunition, for example, has significantly weakened the Bundeswehr’s operational readiness in recent months. At the same time, anyone who follows Lambrecht must ensure that the Bundeswehr can meet its growing alliance obligations. For 2025, Germany has promised NATO a fully equipped army division. Equipment deficiencies must be rectified as soon as possible. In the first year of the turning point, only a fraction of the special fund of 100 billion euros was spent on the Bundeswehr. Due to inflation, fewer purchases can be made with the money than initially thought. The military commissioner Högl recently brought into play an investment requirement of 300 billion euros for the Bundeswehr.
The chairman of the Bundeswehr Association, André Wüstner, said on ZDF that unlimited weapon systems cannot be delivered to Ukraine. “We cannot let the Bundeswehr continue to run idle in the current situation, but have to procure more quickly than before. This is the order of the day and it must be understood that the special fund will not be enough either.” Regarding Lambrecht’s successor, he said that a “heart for the troops” was important. A minister needs competence, assertiveness, must be recognized across party lines. Union faction vice Johann Wadephul (CDU) called for a quick solution. “With all due respect, our soldiers and our alliance partners can expect this deadlock to finally come to an end.”