Germany’s defence minister, Christine Lambrecht, has announced her resignation following a series of blunders and a growing impression that she has struggled to deal with the challenges of overseeing the country’s military since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Lambrecht asked the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, to accept her resignation, she said in a statement on Monday morning, following widespread speculation over recent days that she would stand down.
Scholz’s judgment has been questioned over his appointment of Lambrecht in the first place. He is under pressure to replace her with another woman, in order to fulfil his pledge to have an equal number of men and women in his cabinet.
Lambrecht’s resignation comes at a crucial moment with Germany expected to deliver battle tanks to Ukraine, in a huge decision for the country as it changes the longstanding direction of its defence policy.
From the start of her appointment in December 2021, Lambrecht was viewed as a weak candidate for the job. Insiders say the former justice minister had originally hoped to secure the interior ministry role.
When Scholz announced a huge increase in military spending with the creation of a €100bn investment fund for the German armed forces at the start of the war in Ukraine, Lambrecht appeared to struggle with the scale of the challenge to bring the military into shape. Little has happened regarding the new weapons systems and equipment that Scholz has pledged would become available.
Her apparent slowness to deliver accompanied repeated reports about the ill-equipped nature of the army.
Last month, during a training exercise, all 18 Puma infantry vehicles deployed had to be taken out of service due to technical difficulties, despite them being one of the military’s most advanced pieces of equipment.
Lambrecht was also ridiculed early on in the invasion for her decision to send 5,000 helmets to Ukraine to aid its efforts to stave off Russian aggression.
After repeated admissions that she did not understand the army’s ranking system, Lambrecht came under fire more recently after a clumsy and technically poor new year’s address on Instagram from her rooftop in which she could barely be heard above the noise of exploding fireworks in central Berlin. In the address, she said the conflict had meant she had gathered “many special impressions, many encounters with interesting, great people”.
She was also forced to defend herself against nepotism after it was revealed she had flown on holiday with her son using a government helicopter. The incident came to light after her son posted a picture of himself in the helicopter on social media. Although her son paid for the trip, the public outcry over the incident was difficult for Lambrecht and her ministry to live down.
Potential replacements include Eva Högl, the parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces and Siemtje Möller, a junior defence minister.
Scholz is said to favour Lars Klingbeil, the leader of the Social Democrats – Scholz’s own party – who comes from a military family, though the pressure he will be under to choose a woman makes this less likely.
Scholz is under pressure to make another significant step forward in German military aid to Ukraine by agreeing to deliver Leopard 2 battle tanks. Earlier this month, Germany agreed to provide 40 Marder armoured personnel carriers and a Patriot air defence missile battery to Kyiv.
Germany has given Ukraine substantial support in recent months, including howitzers, Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and the first of four IRIS-T surface-to-air missile systems. But critics, some inside Germany’s governing coalition, have long-complained of Scholz’s perceived hesitancy to step up aid. Lambrecht was overshadowed on the issue by the chancellor, who made most major announcements.
