Boris Pistorius (SPD) is to become the new defense minister. Some are happy, others are very skeptical. Image: IMAGO/Future Image / U.Stamm
politics
After the resignation of Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD), Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) is apparently to succeed her. The ARD capital studio learned this from government circles. In the course of the morning, the Chancellery wants to announce the decision.
But the network is already heatedly discussing the qualities of the successor. Is he up to the job?
Positive encouragement, especially from party colleagues
According to SPD politician Katarina Barley Boris, apparently yes. On Twitter she writes: “Pistorius is one of our best armed forces deserves and our country needs in these difficult times.” She is happy for the troops and for her party colleagues.
SPD party colleagues are reacting positively to Boris Pistorius as the new defense minister. Image: IMAGO/localpic
For the SPD politician Christos Pantazis it was the right decision for Germany. On Twitter, he describes Pistorius as a political professional “who tackles crises in a targeted, efficient and groundbreaking manner politics has made”. He is the right person for this challenging position.
The German political advisor and author Erik Flügge is probably a big fan of the new defense minister. “I have known Boris Pistorius for over ten years and have always found him to be a decent, down-to-earth and technically well-informed person,” Flügge wrote on Twitter. Pistorius is very popular with the police and rescue services in Lower Saxony.
But apparently not everyone shares this view.
Doubts about Pistorius’ competence are raised
FDP politician Patrick L. Schunn said on Twitter: “We were looking for a woman with defense policy expertise. It turned out to be a man with no foreign or defense policy experience.” According to Schunn, one can only hope that Pistorius will quickly familiarize himself with the topic and simply do better.
Green politician Peter Heilrath is also skeptical about the decision. According to him, Pistorius lacks any defense policy experience. “Should he become a pure administrative director?” he asks on Twitter. Because: According to Heilrath, running the ministry out of the Chancellery has so far been “not a real model for success”.
“Oh God, it seems that some people haven’t heard much from Boris Pistorius over the years,” warns “Union Watch”, which is dedicated to daily political commentary and news about the Union. On Twitter, they warn that Pistorius is not only an enemy of citizens’ freedom from state surveillance. In 2020, for example, he relativized racial profiling by the police. “Not a good sign given the Bundeswehr’s Nazi problem,” says Union Watch.
Specifically, Pistorius had back then said:
“If you always deal with the same ethnic group in a certain area that deals there, then it can make sense to check people who belong to this group and presumably belong more often than random passers-by. This is not racial profiling.”
The chairwoman of the Defense Committee of the German Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), also has clear words for Pistorius.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP) warns the new Defense Minister Pistorius.Image: IMAGO/Political Moments
Strack-Zimmermann does not give Pistorius a grace period
Strack-Zimmermann tells the news portal t-online: “Boris Pistorius is a surprising choice. In view of the dramatic international situation and the state of the Bundeswehr, he does not get a grace period. We will work constructively with him and support him as long as he exclusively represents the interests of the soldiers at the cabinet table and is assertive towards the ministry.”
Long waiting times, missing and mixed up ballot papers, blocked roads: the chaos in the elections for the House of Representatives in Berlin in September 2021 has consequences. On February 12, Berliners have to cast their votes again. Because: The country’s constitutional court declared the chaotic election completely invalid – as well as the elections for the twelve district assemblies.
