Lambrecht is fighting for her office – but is probably absent from an important meeting
Created: 07/12/2022 05:13
By: Luke Rogalla
Christine Lambrecht is controversial in the coalition.
Now the minister is said to have left a conference at a crucial time.
Berlin – Christine Lambrecht (SPD) is heavily criticized.
One year after taking office, the Federal Minister of Defense is having a difficult time, both in the media and in parliament. In the middle of the Ukraine war, Lambrecht is acting far too hesitantly, haphazardly and is simply overwhelmed, accusations are made - the pressure is growing.
Lambrecht apparently wants to fight for her position: she defended her work on Monday (December 5) and blamed her predecessors for the state of the Bundeswehr.
The army was "saved for decades," she said in a
Spiegel
interview.
The minister justified the fact that the Bundeswehr is currently in a worse position than before the Russian attack on Ukraine in February with the large number of weapons deliveries.
Her hands are also tied financially.
However, new adversity is already threatening: According to reports, Lambrecht was absent from an important debate on the subject of fighter jets.
Minister Lambrecht is said to have avoided the debate
About a tenth of the 100 billion euro special fund for upgrading the Bundeswehr is to be used to procure F-35 fighter jets from the USA.
But because there is still a lot of ambiguity surrounding the deal and there is also talk of risks involved in the purchase, an important meeting was scheduled for Monday in the Bundestag.
This is reported by the
Bild
newspaper.
In addition to the householders of the traffic light parties, representatives from the Ministry of Defense and the German Armed Forces are said to have taken part.
Is exposed to severe criticism: Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) © Soeren Stache / dpa
When Lambrecht was finally supposed to comment on the controversial F-35 project, she simply left the online meeting.
The report does not give a reason.
It was also initially unclear whether the minister had not previously taken a stand.
The other participants stepped in and tried to “defuse the problems”.
However, many questions remained unanswered because, according to the
picture
, they are still classified as secret.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz had confirmed the purchase intention in a guest article for
Foreign Affairs
on Monday.
"Germany is sticking to its commitment within the framework of the NATO agreements on nuclear sharing, including through the purchase of F-35 fighter jets with dual operational capability," wrote Lambrecht's party colleague.
Nuclear sharing means that the machines can carry US nuclear bombs in an emergency.
Criticism of the Lambrecht Ministry: Further ambiguities before the purchase of F-35 fighter jets
The machines are intended to replace the Bundeswehr's aging Tornado fleet.
The Greens parliamentary group in the Bundestag initially slowed down and demanded that all remaining questions be clarified.
In the room, for example, there are ambiguities about structural measures on the infrastructure and the additional costs associated with them.
The Department of Defense confirmed that there are some factors "that we don't fully understand yet."
However, that is normal at this point.
There is no crisis or problems with planning.
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Lambrecht has also been criticized for the sluggish procurement of weapons and ammunition for the Bundeswehr.
According to its own statements, when asked whether the minister was doing a good job, the picture found that only four of eleven SPD defense politicians backed
Lambrecht
.
(
lrg
)
