Minister Lambrecht: Commander-in-Chief on the defensive

The turning point brings the Minister of Defense maximum attention – and the Bundeswehr the largest modernization program in its history. But after a year in office, doubts about Lambrecht are growing.

Actually, the farewell to federal politics has already been decided. Around two years ago, Christine Lambrecht surprised everyone by announcing that she would no longer be a candidate for parliament in the upcoming elections. More than 20 years in the Bundestag: That was a long time, the SPD politician told the “Spiegel” at the time. She is at an age when you can still start something new.

Last year’s election really marked a turning point in the career of the previous justice minister. But in a different way than expected. Olaf Scholz becomes chancellor – and promises to fill the cabinet equally with women and men. The SPD claims the Ministry of Defense for itself, which was one of the most important departments even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After two CDU ministers in Berlin’s Bendlerblock, Scholz decided that the Social Democrats would also fill the top post with a woman. Hardly anyone had the name Lambrecht on their list.

A circumstance that she addressed of her own accord a year ago when presenting the SPD’s top team for the traffic light government. “The nomination as defense minister will come as a surprise to many,” Lambrecht said at the time. Which she was probably right – after all, the lawyer from the left wing of the SPD had not distinguished herself as a Bundeswehr expert until then. But that doesn’t have to speak against her: before her, others have reached the top of the military department without any significant expertise.

Lambrecht could simply have refrained from recalling the alleged shortcoming. Instead, the social democrat let it be known that she considers her assumption of office to be in need of explanation. And that in a political environment where many only lie in wait for mistakes made by the newcomers to the Bendler block.

In the beginning, things went quite well for the holder of the authority to command and command. With her first trip abroad as Secretary of Defense, she demonstrated a flair for political timing. Lambrecht visited the German contingent in Lithuania “to send a clear signal that we stand by our allies”.

It was a sign to the eastern NATO partners, but also to the homeland: the visit to Lithuania was intended to show that Lambrecht attaches great importance to strengthening NATO’s eastern flank. Because the allies there were already in turmoil at the time – because of the Russian troop deployment on the border with Ukraine. While there was still discussion in Berlin about whether President Vladimir Putin was just bluffing, two months before the Russian attack on the neighboring country, Lambrecht made her alliance-political priorities clear.

Only a few weeks after the trip to Lithuania, however, it offered its critics a target for attack. She promised Ukraine 5,000 helmets – and wanted that to be understood as a “very clear signal”. But in view of the enemy’s military clout, Lambrecht’s announcement appeared to many to be entirely inadequate. For weeks it rained ridicule.

Shortly before, Lambrecht himself had set the bar quite high. In January, the Bundestag discussed her new department: Yes, the position of defense minister is a big challenge, but she always says: “If it were easy, others would do it.” Helicopters that don’t fly and guns that don’t hit – such things would have caused laughter too often, Lambrecht noted at the time. In order to stop such grievances, “a very thick board” had to be drilled. These were pithy words from the minister that still reverberate to this day. But the state of the Bundeswehr has not changed fundamentally even a year after Lambrecht took office.

And that despite the fact that Chancellor Scholz proclaimed a “turning point” and brought the minister a 100 billion euro special fund for the Bundeswehr almost overnight. A sum that their predecessors in office could only dream of. So far, however, the money has been flowing out much more slowly than many had hoped. Not even a tenth of the 100 billion is to be spent next year. In the meantime, the plans for the procurement of F-35 fighter jets are becoming more concrete. The news of success, however, is lost in a heated discussion about the alleged risks of the project.

“Weapons systems are not available in hardware stores”

The largest opposition faction in the Bundestag has been using every opportunity to attack Lambrecht for months. Under their leadership, the Bundeswehr is getting weaker by the day, said CDU MP Johann Wadephul during the budget week in the Bundestag: “Nothing matters,” he said, referring to ammunition and equipment. In his view, it would be better if Lambrecht retired. The minister reacted to the criticism with growing annoyance. During the Bundestag debate, she called out to Wadephul and his fellow parliamentary group members that complex weapon systems “can’t just be pulled off the shelf at a hardware store – let’s be serious!”

In fact, procuring fighter jets or warships is a matter of years rather than months. But the list of shortcomings is still surprisingly long – even for things that could be obtained more quickly. The Bundeswehr still lacks the essentials: protective vests, warm clothing and modern radios. And ammunition.

How much Lambrecht is on the defensive is shown by an exchange of correspondence between the government and the lack of ammunition ARD Capital Studio present. At the end of November, the minister turned to the finance department with a request, “now directly to a significant extent budget funds […] to get the problem under control. Minister of Finance and FDP leader Christian Lindner had Lambrecht rebuffed – and a state secretary replied […] expressed in the course of the parliamentary procedure”. In other words: the minister did not do her homework.

And then there was the matter of the pumps. During a visit by the Bundeswehr forces to Mali in the spring, Lambrecht wore high-heeled shoes, which brought her a great deal of malice. Actually, the minister would probably like to leave the chapter behind. But the bitingness with which the discussion about the wrong shoes is being conducted in the desert has left its mark.

Months later, the head of department brought it up again at a security policy event in Berlin. It was about the big lines – and what Lambrecht wants to be measured against. At least not on her shoes, she answered with a slightly annoyed undertone. A minister in self-defense mode.

Sections of the opposition have long spoken their verdict: Lambrecht failed as defense minister. Impatience is also growing in the ranks of the traffic light coalition, precisely because of the problems with procuring ammunition. Names for a possible successor are already being mentioned. Especially since a cabinet reshuffle would be pending if Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faser moved to Hessian state politics. Only a year after taking office, Lambrecht has to face the impression of being a minister on call.