Carsten Breuer: Corona General becomes the top soldier

Berlin.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) makes the “Corona General” the top soldier in the Bundeswehr: Who is Carsten Breuer?

Vom “Corona-General” to the top soldier of the troop: The 58-year-old Lieutenant General Carsten Breuer becomes the new Chief Inspector General of the Bundeswehr. Corresponding personnel plans by Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) were confirmed to our editors on Monday. Breuer replaces the 63-year-old General Eberhard Zorn, who has held the post since April 2018 and was appointed by the then department head Ursula von der Leyen (CDU). The change is the most important personnel decision since Pistorius took office in mid-January.

Breuer thus becomes the top military officer Advisor to the Secretary of Defense. He takes on the task at a time when, after years of savings, the Bundeswehr is to be quickly made fit for national and alliance defense as a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine. There are major problems, among other things, with the equipment, the procurement of new equipment and the personnel situation. “Russia’s war has meant that our focus is once again on national and alliance defense,” said Breuer last October. “It has become clear to the whole country: War in Europe is possible again.”

Carsten Breuer headed the Corona crisis team in the Chancellery

Breuer recently occupied several key positions: Since September of last year he has been the commander of the new territorial command of the Bundeswehr. The command coordinates all of the Bundeswehr’s domestic tasks, from disaster relief to the training of reservists and the transport of material and personnel to areas of operation. “Here in the command, we are primarily prepared for hybrid threats,” Breuer described the task in an interview. “It’s the state of things between not quite peace anymore, but not really war either.”

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Breuer was previously known to the general public as head of the Corona crisis team in the Federal Chancellery. Chancellor Olaf Scholz had already appointed Breuer to the post of head of the Corona crisis team before the SPD politician himself officially took office as head of government in December 2021. In this function, Breuer should advance the federal government’s vaccination campaign. After initial successes, the vaccination campaign stalled after the turn of the year 2021/22. The crisis team was dissolved in May 2022.

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In an interview, Breuer drew a positive balance of his time as Germany’s “Corona General”. “I think soldiers can handle a crisis,” said the Bundeswehr top man. “Thanks to our training and experience in operations, we are prepared to push things forward and retain the initiative even in uncertain situations.”

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The Federal Ministry of Defense did not officially announce the personnel on Monday. According to reports, Pistorius is planning another change at the top of the ministry: State Secretary Margaretha Sudhof must vacate her post for Pistorius confidante Nils Hilmer, who already worked for the SPD politician in the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior, the “Spiegel” reported.