New Year’s message in the midst of firecrackers: indignation at Lambrecht video

Status: 01/02/2023 1:30 p.m

On New Year’s Eve, Defense Minister Lambrecht shared a video on her private Instagram account in which she took stock of the year 2022. She is now heavily criticized for what she said, how and where.

By Uli Hauck, ARD Capital Studio

Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht is standing in a blue coat on New Year’s Eve in a square in Berlin – probably in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district. New Year’s Eve firecrackers and rockets thunder in the background: “The year 2022 is coming to an end and Berlin is preparing for the turn of the year.”

Without a microphone, the defense minister is difficult to understand, the wind blows in her face. The 56 second video seems spontaneous, thoughtless and therefore unprofessional. Also in view of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine with thousands of dead, the sentences of the SPD politician in the hail of fireworks on Berlin’s New Year’s Eve seem out of place and distanced. She says:

A war is raging in the middle of Europe. There were a lot of special impressions that I was able to gain from this. Many, many encounters with interesting and great people. For that I say a big thank you.

“How can you miss the note so much?”

“Many special impressions, encounters with interesting and great people”: Above all, these statements in connection with the Ukraine war caused a storm of indignation on social media. “How can you not hit the right note so much?” asks defense expert Ulrike Franke.

Union politicians took the video as an opportunity to confirm doubts about the suitability of the minister. Ex-Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet (CDU) pointed out on Twitter that Lambrecht’s Instagram appearance also caused astonishment abroad. “Does the chancellor really care nothing about Germany’s impact in Europe and the world?” he wrote.

The CSU defense expert Florian Hahn wrote: “This video speaks for itself. What an embarrassment, what a miscast.”

And the CDU defense politician Serap Güler finds the video “incredibly inappropriate” and asks: “What is satire allowed to do?”

Criticism also from the traffic light coalition

But there is also unconcealed criticism from the traffic light coalition. The Green member of the Bundestag Stephan Bischoff comments on Twitter: “A war is raging in the middle of Europe. And now cheers you sacks! Good slide!”

The basic tenor of the criticism: Defense Minister Lambrecht did not adequately represent the Bundeswehr.

An accusation that the Ministry of Defense is not commenting on today. Reason: The video appeared on Lambrecht’s private account, says Arne Collatz, deputy ministry spokesman at the federal press conference: “She spoke about it on a private channel, chose her words there and produced the whole thing without using official resources. “

However, it is not that easy to distinguish between the private individual and Defense Minister Lambrecht. Because in her 56-second speech, Lambrecht also thanks soldiers, police officers and hospital staff who were on duty on New Year’s Eve when the minister celebrated with family and friends.

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