Successor: Boris Pistorius: This is the new Defense Minister

Boris Pistorius appears alone in front of the cameras in Hanover to talk about his new job. The SPD politician thanks the Chancellor for the trust placed in him and promises: “I want to make the Bundeswehr strong for the time that lies ahead.” Federal Defense Minister he will throw himself “with 150 percent” from day one. “The troops can rely on the fact that I will stand in front of them whenever necessary,” the Lower Saxony assures the soldiers.

These words are gladly heard in the Bundeswehr. After all, the troupe and Pistorius’ predecessor Christine Lambrecht hadn’t warmed to each other at all. Olaf Scholz also hopes that things will go better with the previous interior minister of Lower Saxony. Pistorius has the “strength and calm” for the great task of the Ministry of Defense in times of one war in Europe lead, says the chancellor. “I am convinced that this is someone who can with the group. And which the soldiers will like very much.”

Pistorius as the new defense minister – Scholz had a surprise effect on his side

Scholz spoke out this Tuesday in Brandenburg an der Havel, where he visited the Federal Office for Foreign Affairs. Until then, the Chancellor had only announced the appointment of the 62-year-old in writing in the morning, instead of going public with Pistorius. The Chancellor then made his statement at the same time as Pistorius in Hanover. They cut each other off on the news channels. the awkward communication around Lambrecht’s resignation and the search for a successor continues a bit.

However, Scholz had the surprise effect on his side on Tuesday. Nobody had the name Pistorius on their list in the past few days. Even Pistorius was in his own words “very surprised”, when he only received the Chancellor’s request on Monday. A sign that Scholz, looking for a successor for Lambrecht, first asked other candidates over the weekend – but received rejections. “This is a cast from the B team,” criticizes the CDU foreign politician Johann Wadephul the personnel.

SPD chairwoman Esken von Pistorius convinced

The SPD disagrees and explains why the state politician is the right man to take over the military department of the largest European country in these times of crisis. On “important security politician” is Pistorius, SPD leader Saskia Esken says to this editorial team. “With his many years of experience as Lower Saxony’s Minister of the Interior, responsible for the security authorities as well as disasters, civil and civil protection, he is technically highly qualified for the office of Federal Defense Minister.”

Pistorius has an image as a man with a clear edge. Most recently, after the New Year’s Eve riots and the attacks on rescue workers, he campaigned to have the perpetrators’ driver’s licenses revoked. Pistorius is considered “doer type”, as ambitious. He should also react emotionally in certain situations, according to people who have met him again and again for many years. He is “good with people” and is “approachable”.

Internal security is the topic that he has been supporting full-time since 2013 when Interior Minister of Lower Saxony. He is one of the longest-serving senior domestic politicians in Germany and has been spokesman for the SPD interior ministers for several years. He is considered to be well connected in the SPD and also has a close relationship with the current Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser.

New defense minister: Pistorius was in a relationship with Gerhard Schröder’s ex

Pistorius is a widowed father of two daughters, his wife Sabine died in 2015 after cancer. In the years that followed, he was a politician with the SPD Doris Schröder-Köpf together, the ex-wife of former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. The couple separated last year.

In Hanover, Pistorius is said to have toyed with the idea of ​​prime minister, but in the end he realized that he wouldn’t stand a chance against owner Stephan Weil. And put back. Also a “human quality”, some say. It’s no secret that another of Boris Pistorius’ political goals in recent years has been Berlin. After the 2021 federal elections, he was traded in Olaf Scholz’s cabinet – as a Federal Minister of the Interior. Now he is Secretary of Defense. Like its failed predecessor, who would have preferred to have had the Ministry of the Interior.

Pistorius campaigned for local forces from Afghanistan

Pistorius did military service in the early 1980s. So far, however, he has not been noticed in defense policy. After all: During his tenure as Lower Saxony’s interior minister, Pistorius successfully campaigned at Lambrecht last year for Lower Saxony to have a new Homeland Security Regiment from 2024.

Pistorius had also made himself strong for them local forces of the Bundeswehr in Afghanistan. After the Taliban seized power, Lower Saxony took in several hundred people from the country on the Hindu Kush. Many of them were employed in Afghanistan for years by the Bundeswehr soldiers there, helping to supply the troops in war operations.

Also read: Lambrecht after resignation: She is entitled to so much money

“The office of interior minister and defense minister has a lot in common,” says Thuringia’s interior minister and state SPD leader Georg Maier, who is a friend of Pistorius. “We need to know about chains of command, we both work with one security institutionwhich is built on hierarchies.”

The core tasks of an interior minister also include the procurement of technology, protective equipment and weapons – as is well known, an area in which the Bundeswehr lacks. “We just chatted briefly,” reports Maier to this editorial team after the personal details became known. “Boris is now really keen to get started in the job of defense minister.”

Also Hamburg’s Interior Senator and SPD politician Andy Grote has praised the election of party colleague Pistorius as the new defense minister. “Boris Pistorius is a plausible choice. He is assertive and clearly structured. Above all, he is close to the people, which is important if you want to lead institutions like the police or the armed forces,” Grote told our editorial team.

Hamburg’s interior senator emphasized: “In any case, internal and external security are converging more and more. Cyber ​​attacks and attacks on critical infrastructure such as the railway network, but also the issues in the area of ​​civil protection and disaster control show how close domestic and defense policy are to each other.” For this reason too, the choice of Pistorius to succeed Christine Lambrecht (SPD), who has resigned, is a good choice grote.

No grace period for the SPD politician

In November Pistorius was in Madrid for four days. The NATO Parliamentary Assembly met there. Pistorius has been a member of the assembly for a long time, so he always received information about NATO security policy. And of course Madrid was all about one thing: the war in Ukraine. And yet: For the SPD man, as Minister of Defense, it will be a cold start in the federal government – and that without grace period.

At the end of November, Pistorius invited the state press to the annual reception in the “Stamme 96” bar near the stadium in Hanover. Pistorius gave a speech, the atmosphere was good, report journalists who were there. But the SPD politician said goodbye relatively early on, while many stayed longer at the reception. He has to go the next day Berlin. And the journey by train or car takes a little while. Construction sites on the Autobahn, problems with the train.

Now he is going to Berlin as Minister. His first day at the Department of Defense is Aug Thursday. There, too, Boris Pistorius encounters numerous construction sites and problems.

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