Lambrecht's next problem: NATO contradicts her state secretary - CDU calls for clarification
Created: 05/25/2022, 14:25
By: Cindy Boden
Christine Lambrecht (SPD), Defense Minister: New vortex from her house.
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
Things are not getting quiet around Christine Lambrecht, because now her parliamentary state secretary is also causing a stir.
It's about arms deliveries to Ukraine again.
Berlin – The very first content-related statement by Siemtje Möller in the ZDF program “Berlin direct” fueled confusion on Sunday.
"In the NATO alliance we have agreed with all Western nations - and the decision is also taken jointly - that no infantry fighting vehicles or battle tanks of Western models will be delivered and there has not been any change in the position of all Western nations to date," said the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence.
She thus provided the answer to the question of why Germany had not yet delivered any tanks of the Marder or Leopard type, for example.
"When was this agreed where?
Why isn't the Bundestag informed?
CDU/CSU demands clarification!” tweeted the CDU security politician Johann Wadephul on Twitter.
Once again there is unrest from the home of Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD), who has been criticized for various points for a long time.
Lambrecht's Parliamentary State Secretary causes confusion: "Expect the statement to be revised"
The CDU defense expert Roderich Kiesewetter called for clarity about the agreements within NATO on arms deliveries to Ukraine.
So far he has only known that within NATO the arms deliveries should be deliberately national decisions, he told the
Tagesspiegel.
"I expect the federal government to revise the statement made by Parliamentary State Secretary Möller."
"It's completely new to me that there was an agreement within NATO not to deliver western armored personnel carriers to Ukraine," said CDU defense politician Serap Güler to the
Tagesspiegel
.
If this agreement exists, she wonders why the members of the Defense Committee were never informed about it, said Güler as a member of the committee.
Disbelief prevailed not only in the CDU.
According to the report, industry circles also say: "We have not heard from either side of such an agreement." Even a NATO spokesman explained the
picture:
"The delivery of certain military goods is a national decision."
Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Siemtje Möller, on "Berlin direct" on ZDF © Screenshot Twitter Berlin Direct/ZDF
Ukraine weapons from Germany: Möller does not understand the excitement about your statement
Möller, in turn, told the
Tagesspiegel
that the excitement surrounding her statements "surprises me.
I didn't say anything different than what the federal government has been saying for weeks: no German going it alone when it comes to arms deliveries and very close coordination with the allies.
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A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Defense also tried to capture the excitement in a government press conference on Monday.
When asked if the mentioned agreement on deliveries actually existed, he explained: "There was no talk of a formal agreement or anything like that.
The fact is that this has not yet happened.
Now you can assume that the NATO partners see it that way, otherwise it would have happened by now.”
Lambrecht still under pressure – discussion about Möller's statement with CDU politicians on Twitter
Incidentally, Möller reacted personally to the tweet from CDU politician Wadephul: "In every (!) meeting of the committee, I, like all other government representatives, provide information about what is being delivered/made/done and how and all of this is coordinated in the alliance and within the federal government is, last Wednesday last week.” But that didn't satisfy Wadephul either: “That misses the point: when was the 'decision in NATO' made?
This is new and we have not been informed about it yet.
Point."
On Wednesday he even went a step further: "The Bundestag has asked the federal government to deliver the necessary heavy weapons without reservation.
That doesn't happen.
In doing so, the federal government is violating a binding decision by Parliament," Wadepuhl told
Focus Online
.
He attested to a scandalous process and warned: "If things continue like this, there will be a committee of inquiry later!"
(cibo / dpa / AFP)