Berlin.
The failure of the defense minister is a defeat for Scholz. Will the chancellor react with a major cabinet reshuffle?
The failure of Christine Lambrecht as Minister of Defense is also a defeat for Olaf Scholz. When the chancellor presented the social democratic ministers at the SPD party headquarters in December 2021, he praised Lambrecht as “an experienced politician, an experienced minister”. The Bundeswehr deserves someone at the top “who can do it too – and that is exactly the case with Christine Lambrecht,” said Scholz. “She’s going to be a very, very important Secretary of Defense of the Federal Republic of Germany.”
A good year later it is clear: Scholz was wrong. In mid-December, the chancellor praised the 57-year-old as a “first-rate defense minister,” but Lambrecht herself has now recognized that despite her previous performance as justice minister, she was not a first-rate head of defense and will not become a major defense minister again. The list of them is too long glitches and clumsinessthe mood in the Ministry is too poisonous.
Scholz: Not a word about Lambrecht at the weekend
Her official resignation is expected in the coming days after reports about it have been circulating since Friday evening and went unchallenged over the weekend. Lambrecht did not comment either, she went into hiding. On bizarre state of limbo.
The chancellor would have had the chance to back Lambrecht up again. Or to thank the party friend for her work. Or to announce a quick solution for filling the difficult department. But when Scholz opened a new liquid gas terminal in Lubmin on the Baltic Sea on Saturday, he remained silent, ignoring reporter questions about Lambrecht and a new appointment. No word on the turbulence in his government.
Leopard 2 debate: Right now, the defense department is without leadership
If the appointment on the Baltic Sea demonstrates the ability of the chancellor and his government to act in the current crisis, he did so Vacuum at the top of the Department of Defense and the associated problems of the chancellor particularly clearly.
War is raging in Europe. With the attack on Ukraine, Russia’s ruler not only shook all apparent certainties about the political order on the continent, but also brutally demonstrated to the Europeans and especially Germany how poorly equipped they are militarily for such threats. In this situation, the largest country in Europe, of all people, lacks leadership in the defense department. And that too at a moment when the Scholz government under pressure from partners stands to agree to the transfer of Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine. The chancellor has been reticent on the issue so far.
Ukraine Crisis – The most important news about the war
Military Commissioner Eva Högl: Will she be Lambrecht’s successor?
The US government will direct the next one next Friday Ramstein Conference from: International arms deliveries to Ukraine are coordinated at the US military base of the same name in Rhineland-Palatinate. The date is considered decisive for whether a coalition of countries can deliver the German-made tanks to the Ukrainian armed forces with the consent of the federal government. Lambrecht was to travel to Ramstein. It is considered unthinkable in coalition circles that the appointment of the head of the ministry could then not be clarified.
Also read about the expected Lambrecht resignation:
Scholz cannot afford another mistake. The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, Eva Högl, is one option. The 54-year-old appeared at the weekend with an interview – agreed long before the reports about Lambrecht’s resignation – in which she not only called for the special fund for the modernization of the Bundeswehr to be tripled to 300 billion euros. Högl also told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung” about the tank debate: “Leopard 2 tanks would certainly help Ukraine decisively.” Högl’s expertise is undisputedshe is popular with the troops – but would she be too uncomfortable for the chancellor with such clear positions?
Klingbeil, Schmidt, Heil are traded as candidates
Also SPD boss Lars Klingbeil is traded as a possible successor to Lambrecht. The party leader comes from a family of soldiers and worked on the Bundeswehr for years on the Defense Committee of the Bundestag. His relationship with Scholz is close.
So far, however, everyone in the SPD has been satisfied that party leaders Klingbeil and Saskia Esken are not part of the cabinet. One surprise solutionfor which Scholz is also good, would be the 39-year-old state secretary in the Ministry of Defense Siemtje Möller.
However, it is more likely that the Chancellor will rely on experience in the tense situation. The focus is on Wolfgang Schmidt, Scholz’s long-time confidante and head of the Chancellery. An alternative would be Labor Minister Hubertus Heil, whom Scholz praised as a “warhorse” when the SPD ministers were presented a good year ago. However, Scholz has promised his Government team with equal parts with men and women to occupy.
Cabinet reshuffle could be bigger – what will become of Lauterbach?
FDP Vice Wolfgang Kubicki asked the chancellor in the “Bild am Sonntag” on the question of Lambrecht successor not “by gender, but only by competence” to decide. From the SPD, however, it can be heard that the principle of parity should be adhered to. That speaks for Högl. If either Heil or Schmidt dare to be ejected from the Defense Ministry, their posts would have to be filled by a woman. If Klingbeil does it, a man in the cabinet would have to give way. The only other minister with an SPD party card: the not undisputed Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.
Scholz is forced by the Lambrecht personality to bend over a complicated personnel puzzle. That may be a reason for his silence over the weekend. Direct replacement of Lambrecht or one bigger castling? Both are considered possible in the SPD. Especially since the face of Nancy Faeser can also be seen on another piece of the puzzle: The Federal Minister of the Interior is head of the Hessian SPD state association and the top candidate for the state elections in autumn, who has not yet been officially chosen.
Nancy Faeser complicates the personnel puzzle
The decision on Faeser’s candidacy should have been announced in early February. At the latest then it would also have been a question of how long the social democrat wants and can stay in the traffic light cabinet despite her commitment in Hesse. Scholz is now faced with the question of whether he wants to hold the debate about a new appointment twice within a few weeks – or whether he should do it now total solution presents.
The Union took advantage of the chancellor’s dilemma Pressure on Scholz close. The rumors about Lambrecht’s resignation must “finally be closed with a decision by the Federal Chancellor”, demanded opposition leader and CDU leader Friedrich Merz. “Even with this waving and this waiting and this hesitation you harm the Bundeswehr.”
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