German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht plans to resign, according to German government sources, after a series of blunders damaged her credibility as the country’s armed forces chief.
The person said Lambrecht could announce his decision to step down as early as next week.
His withdrawal will cause uncertainty as Germany faces a key decision on whether to break with its long-standing policy and supply battle tanks to Ukraine, a move that chancellor Olaf Scholz has yet to take.
Lambrecht was seen as a weak leader of a ministry that was at a critical point in its history. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Scholz government promised a huge increase in military spending and created a €100bn investment fund for the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, marking a fresh start after years of underfunding.
But the equipment and new weapon systems that Scholz promised for the military have not materialized, Lambrecht is often blamed for the slow implementation of spending reforms.
Anger in the poor country of the Bundeswehr boiled over last month after a training exercise when all 18 Puma infantry vehicles deployed in the drill had to be taken out of service. Puma is one of the most modern and sophisticated kits in the army.
Bild Zeitung, a mass circulation daily, first reported Lambrecht’s intention to resign, saying that he himself had taken the decision and was not fired by Scholz.
Potential replacements include Eva Högl, the parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces, and Siemtje Möller, the junior defense minister.
Another successor is Lars Klingbeil, the leader of Lambrecht’s party, the Social Democrats (SPD), who comes from a military family.
But Klingbeil’s chances seem slim, as Scholz is committed to having an equal number of male and female ministers in his cabinet, and bringing in the SPD leader would upset the gender balance.
Lambrecht has long been one of the least popular ministers in Scholz’s cabinet. But calls for his resignation grew after his awkward New Year’s address on Instagram as he struggled to be heard over fireworks and firecrackers in central Berlin.
In the video, he mentioned the war in Ukraine and then added that the conflict was associated with “many special impressions, many encounters with interesting and good people”.
The address appeared to be spectacularly misjudged, even by close allies in the SPD, while many of his cabinet colleagues were speechless in embarrassment. “After the debacle she became a dead woman walking,” said a person familiar with the situation.
The opposition Christian Democrats called for Scholz to be fired immediately after the Instagram scandal, but he stood by them. Just a few days ago, his spokesman said that the chancellor had a good and trusting relationship with all his cabinet colleagues, and “that was true” for Lambrecht as well. In an interview in December, Scholz described him as a “first-class defense minister”.
That Instagram faux pas the latest in a series of gaffes that have left Lambrecht’s reputation in tatters. In December 2021, he admitted in an interview that he did not know the various ranks of the army: five months later he told another newspaper that he still did not know.
He was mocked shortly after the Ukrainian war began when he was asked if Germany would provide military aid and replied that it would send Kyiv 5,000 helmets.
He also drew widespread criticism after flying on holiday with his son using a government helicopter. He paid for the trip himself, but the public riots that ensued seemed to be very damaging, both to Lambrecht and the ministry.
Many observers say that Lambrecht never wanted to be defense minister – he preferred to be named interior minister.
In a recent poll by the Civey organization for the t-online news portal, 77 percent of people called for him to be fired, with only 13 percent saying he should remain in office.