It should have been her last visit as Defense Minister in Neubiberg: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer came to the Bundeswehr University again three months before the federal election to promote 662 students to officers. The fact that the minister carried out the promotion in person underscores the importance of this event, said university spokesman Michael Brauns.
For the students, the promotion to the first officer rank is an unforgettable moment, said Brauns. The appointment to lieutenant is considered to be the most emotionally important promotion within an officer career. The roll call on the campus of the university took place in compliance with strict hygiene measures. The prospective officers lined up at a safe distance of one and a half meters from one another. To enable their families and friends to participate, the roll call was recorded.
Departure: Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer with university boss Merith Niehuss.
(Photo: BW-Uni)
In her address, University President Merith Niehuss addressed the students personally: “Especially in times of crisis like this, people become aware of how important help and support from the Bundeswehr are at home as well.” In areas such as care facilities, soldiers continued to operate during the pandemic. “They are preventing the system from collapsing.”
In her speech, the Defense Minister addressed the new threats in a rapidly changing world. The young officers would have to assert themselves against attacks on a common set of values that guarantee freedom, security and prosperity. “Security must no longer be thought of as being regionally limited,” said Kramp-Karrenbauer. Space knows no borders and cyberspace is also limitless and the consequences of climate change are creating new geopolitical realities. In view of the most recent cases of right-wing extremist activities in the Bundeswehr, the minister appealed to the young officers to lead with a “strong democratic compass”. “Whenever your values are in danger and are threatened by extremists, whenever you hear a supposedly incidental remark or experience gross misconduct: Don’t look the other way, show your attitude.” The Federal Minister of Defense also used her visit to the university to find out about current and strategic research projects, for example in the areas of satellite communication, mobility and mechanics in aerospace technology.
The minister demands a “democratic compass” from the soldiers.
(Photo: BW-Uni)
These projects are part of the newly established center for digitization and technology research of the Bundeswehr. Finally, Kramp-Karrenbauer visited the Competence Center Crisis Early Detection, which is being set up by Carlo Masala, a professor of international politics. The aim is to further develop IT-supported early crisis detection using scientific methods. From the analysis of the data, with the help of artificial intelligence, models are to recognize possible crises worldwide and represent them graphically.