Christine Lambrecht: Friedrich Merz and Markus Söder call for the minister's dismissal

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Christine Lambrecht: The criticism of the defense minister is growing

Photo: TOBIAS SCHWARZ / AFP

The pressure on Christine Lambrecht (SPD) is growing.

After their controversial video message, the Union vehemently demands that the defense minister be kicked out.

“How long does the Chancellor actually want to look at this?” CDU leader Friedrich Merz told the “Münchner Merkur” on Wednesday.

CSU boss Markus Söder demanded: "The minister must finally resign – or be fired." The FDP defense expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann told the Funke newspapers that Lambrecht should not be measured by a video, but by her will to reform.

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Lambrecht had triggered criticism and ridicule with the video recorded on New Year's Eve in Berlin.

Her thanks and wishes to the soldiers were drowned out by the noise of cannon fire.

In the recording, the minister then says: “A war is raging in the middle of Europe.

And that was linked to a lot of special impressions that I was able to gain - many, many encounters with interesting and great people.«

Merz said to Olaf Scholz (SPD): "Every hour that Ms. Lambrecht remains in office weakens the authority of the Federal Chancellor." He added: "Not only our soldiers, who are defense experts worldwide speechless how embarrassing and lacking in professional competence a minister can appear publicly in our country.« Lambrecht was »completely overwhelmed« by the task.

The CSU chairman Söder demanded a quick change.

The chancellor had appointed Lambrecht, "he must now also solve this personnel problem".

"The great hope of the turning point has become one of Germany's greatest disappointments - also because of Christine Lambrecht," added the Bavarian Prime Minister.

Union faction vice Johann Wadephul (CDU) said on Tuesday in the ARD "Morgenmagazin" that the minister no longer had any support and was "in the wrong place".

Lambrecht does not understand that she does not appear as a private person in such a video, but as a representative of a central department of the federal government.

There are "numerous" politicians in the SPD, such as party leader Lars Klingbeil and military commissioner Eva Högl, who could "certainly do better" in the office, said Wadephul.

The chair of the Bundestag Defense Committee, Strack-Zimmermann, called for the judgment on Lambrecht to be linked to their will to reform.

"You shouldn't judge the minister by whether a video was successful or less successful, although the right internal and external communication is of course very important, especially in these times," she told the Funke newspapers.

"The minister will have to be measured by how far she is willing and able to reform the Bundeswehr."

A priority must be the reform of the procurement system, including overcoming the separation of military and civil administration.

In the Bundeswehr, corporate cultures collide that hinder each other and therefore do not have the necessary efficiency.

Other focal points are the streamlining of processes and the merging of the various branches of the armed forces, as well as the need to make the Bundeswehr demography-proof.

“That will be the standard against which they will be measured,” emphasized Strack-Zimmermann.

asc/AFP