A reformer that doesn't hurt anyone

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Defense Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer: Want to modernize the Bundeswehr

Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa

Large theatre.

It is shortly before 3 p.m., the live broadcast will start in a few minutes, and the gentlemen are already waiting.

Sit at a table with a white tablecloth at an appropriate corona distance and leaf through your documents.

Seven generals and three state secretaries.

The direction has only given them an extra role.

Suddenly they jump up.

Ten men who pay homage to a woman.

So it is common in the Berlin Bendlerblock when the owner of the command and authority enters the room.

This afternoon, however, the ritual is part of a staging.

Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer wants to show that the political and military leadership of the Bundeswehr is united behind her.

That's why she ordered the ten men to come here.

And they obeyed, for that is the custom in the armed forces.

In truth, the small staging shows how much AKK is under pressure in its own ranks.

The Union’s defense politicians are outraged.

You heard about the minister's reform plans for the Bundeswehr from the newspaper.

Why didn't anyone get them involved?

And anyway - what is the purpose of this reform four months before the federal election when it is clear that it can no longer be implemented?

There was almost a riot in the past few weeks.

The minister had to justify herself several times to her own people.

Vain.

That morning a long-serving CDU member accused her of "disrespect" in front of parliament.

These are tones that are normally reserved for political opponents.

There is no turning back for AKK

But there is no turning back for AKK.

The minister had already announced in February that she would issue "cornerstones for the Bundeswehr of the future" in May - and thus maneuver herself into a corner.

Now she has to deliver too.

At least something.

No, so she assured this afternoon at her press conference in the Bendler block that this time it was deliberately not about a "major Bundeswehr reform of earlier days."

And no, "remodeling of such disruptive dimensions" is not necessary.

No, you don't need more staff either, and the division of the Ministry between the two offices in Bonn and Berlin has also proven its worth.

So what then? It's a reformer that announces AKK, and it's designed so that it won't hurt anyone. In addition to the operational command in Potsdam, which leads the Bundeswehr's foreign missions, there is now also to be a territorial command in Bonn and Berlin. The division into two locations makes little sense, but it is a concession to the powerful NRW CDU and the Düsseldorf Prime Minister Armin Laschet.

Instead of the previous six inspectors, in future there will only be four, namely for the "dimensions" of land, air / space, sea and cyber. In Kalkar on the Lower Rhine, a new space command of the Bundeswehr is to be established under the leadership of the Luftwaffe, the medical service will be dissolved in its previous form and responsibility for the use of weapons and material will be returned to the troops by the notorious Koblenz procurement office.

This afternoon there was a lot of talk of "dysfunctional structures" that urgently need to be dismantled, of "streamlining" and "accelerating", and of course - who could forget - the federal government's climate goals, which the Bundeswehr must also achieve.

Otherwise there should be a lot of testing.

And examined.

And suggestions are worked out.

So that things can really get going in the next legislative period.

"On closer inspection, the key issues paper is the longest test contract in the history of the Bundeswehr," criticizes the green defense politician Tobias Lindner.

The timing is telltale

In terms of content, there is little to be said against the proposals that AKK and General Inspector Eberhard Zorn are marketing this afternoon under the heading “Dare to take more troops”.

Except for the time.

It's treacherous.

Anyone who submits reform proposals for restructuring the armed forces four months before the election is not concerned with the Bundeswehr.

It's all about his career.

That is the accusation that her own party friends are making against the minister.

In truth, the plans are only applications for a second term.

With all the risks and side effects.

Because one thing is clear - if AKK does not become a minister again, the reform plans, which are reasonable in themselves, are probably dead. Every new head of department, even from the Union, would have to emancipate himself from the previous one.

Just like Kramp-Karrenbauer emancipated herself from her CDU predecessor Ursula von der Leyen when she took over the Ministry of Defense.

It is hardly surprising that an opposition politician like the Green Tobias Lindner considers the Minister's plans to be half-baked. "With its catastrophic communication, AKK drove reform ideas into the grits before they could even be seriously discussed," he says. The Minister will be able to ignore him. But not the reaction of their own party friends.

Their praise this afternoon is poisoned.

"In the past legislative period, the central course was set so that the Bundeswehr grows again, can rebuild capabilities and become more modern," said the two CDU politicians Henning Otte and Johann Wadephul, initially praising Kramp-Karrenbauer's predecessor.

Only then do they come to the incumbent's plans: "Another piece of the puzzle is now being added to this process with internal optimization and streamlining of the command structure."

A "piece of the puzzle" - nothing more.