Status: 01/19/2023 03:24 am
Things are moving quickly for the new defense minister: he will be sworn in in the morning, and Pistorius is to receive his US colleague Austin shortly thereafter. The main focus should be on further support for Ukraine.
It’s a quick change in tough times. The personnel was announced on Tuesday, this morning the former Interior Minister of Lower Saxony, Boris Pistorius, is to take office as the new Defense Minister. And he doesn’t have much time to prepare for his new tasks: later that day, he has his first important appointment with a colleague – a meeting with Pentagon boss Lloyd Austin.
Before that, the SPD politician will receive his certificate of appointment from Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the morning and will then be sworn in in the Bundestag. The inspector general of the Bundeswehr, General Eberhard Zorn, then received the new minister with military honors in the Bendler Block, the seat of the Ministry of Defence.
Meeting with Austin in Berlin
Fresh in office, the meeting with Austin is in Berlin. Together with his new German colleague, he would like to prepare for the summit of Ukraine allies planned for Friday at the US air base in Ramstein. The focus of their conversation is likely to be the question of further support for the country attacked by Russia.
The main focus at the moment is the debate about a possible delivery of “Leopard 2” battle tanks. In the past few days, pressure had grown on Germany to make the tanks available to Ukraine.
Reports: Scholz sets the condition
According to media reports, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is now ready to allow the delivery of “Leopard 2” battle tanks to Ukraine. However, the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported that he made the USA a condition for this. According to this, Scholz explained in a telephone call to US President Joe Biden that Germany could only deliver if the US in turn made “Abrams” type battle tanks available to Ukraine.
However, the Pentagon reacted cautiously in the evening. It said it was not yet ready to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine. Austin later tweeted that during his visit to Berlin, he wanted to meet not only Pistorius but also Chancellor Wolfgang Schmidt – “the man who pulls all the strings for possible arms deliveries.” ARD correspondent Stephan Stuchlik in the daily topics explained.
Stoltenberg: “More heavier weapons”
Big decisions and concrete announcements are more likely to be expected after the meeting in Ramstein. There Pistorius is discussed with the Western Allies about the question of further arms deliveries. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had already stressed that he was expecting a signal that there were “more heavier weapons and more modern weapons” for Ukraine.
At the meeting of the western allies on Friday, it could already be indicated how much space Scholz is giving his new defense minister. There is no question, however, that Pistorius will take the chancellor’s line in the Ukraine conflict.