His many blunders will have finally brought down Christine Lambrecht. Germany’s defense minister announced her resignation on Monday, as Berlin is again under pressure to increase its military support for Ukraine with tanks.
The name of the person succeeding him is not yet known. Olaf Scholz only assured that he had a “clear idea” for his succession, which will be announced “very quickly”. According to the daily Picturethe chancellor would be ready to break with the parity, unprecedented in Germany, of his government team.
“The focus of the media on my person for months hardly allows for objective reports and discussions about the soldiers, the Bundeswehr (the German army) and the directions of security policy in the interest of German citizens “, lamented Christine Lambrecht. In this context, “I asked the Chancellor today to relieve me of my duties as Minister of Defence”.
100 billion euros to modernize the army
This resignation comes at a time when Germany is once again under pressure to deliver tanks to kyiv and when a meeting of Western allies, around the United States, will be held on Friday at the American base in Ramstein. Another major project, Germany is planning investments of 100 billion euros to modernize its army, following the war in Ukraine.
Aged 57, Christine Lambrecht, Minister of Justice in the previous coalition government of Angela Merkel, has chained blunders since the start of the war in Ukraine on February 24. She first aroused criticism from kyiv by announcing shortly before the outbreak of the war the sending of 5,000 helmets, when the regime of Volodymyr Zelensky asked for heavy weapons. She also used an army helicopter to go on vacation with her adult son.
Unfavorable polls
But it was the video in which she presented her vows in early January that was the quack too many. The minister appeared there in the center of Berlin, disheveled by gusts of wind, evoking the war in Ukraine between two explosions of firecrackers and fireworks, particularly popular with the Germans to celebrate the new year. “A war is raging in the middle of Europe,” she slipped about the Russian invasion, referring to “many, many meetings with interesting and wonderful people”. “For that, I say a big thank you.”
In the latest barometer from the Insa institute, she appeared in last position among political figures, behind the co-leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. More than two-thirds of Germans (77%) wanted him to resign, according to another poll.