Criticized down to her own camp, Christine Lambrecht multiplies blunders without ever having managed to establish her authority over the Bundeswehr.
by Thomas Wieder (Berlin, correspondent)
Are the days of the German Defense Minister counted? The question has been asked since the video she published, on the evening of December 31, 2022, on her Instagram account. Filmed in a street in Berlin, hair ruffled by the wind and the voice covered by fireworks of fireworks, Christiane Lambrecht declared this: “A war raged in the heart of Europe. I was able to draw them Many particular impressions as well as many meetings with interesting and wonderful people. For that, I say a big thank you. “
Questioned, Monday, January 2, on these wishes as lunar on the form as on the merits, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense was satisfied with this answer: “[M me Lambrecht] spoke on a private account. She chose her own words herself, without soliciting the services of her administration. “Nevertheless. If Christine Lambrecht has used her personal address well, not that of her ministry, posting her message on Instagram, the status of her word has, de facto, an official character: whatever the channel on which she is expressed, His voice is necessarily taken for that of the German government.
For the conservative opposition, the Minister of Defense no longer has its place in the team of Olaf Scholz. “Each hour more than M me lambrecht remains in office weakens the authority of the chancellor,” said the president of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Friedrich Merz. “This minister must resign or be sent back,” said the leader of Bavarian conservatives, Markus Söder (CSU).
an image of disastrous amateurism
Within her camp, Christine Lambrecht has little support to claim. In a long article in the Spiegel, published Tuesday, January 3, several deputies of the majority, members of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) or the Greens, say they are dismayed by the wishes disseminated on Instagram by the Minister of Defense, both on the form and on the bottom. Practically inaudible due to fireworks that occupy the background, its declaration gives an image of disastrous amateurism, they believe. By failing to quote the sufferings of the Ukrainians, the minister also appears to be completely offset from the challenges of the moment, they add.
Aged 57 years old, Christine Lambrecht has been struggling since her appointment to the Ministry of Defense, at the end of 2021, to establish her authority there. Appointed Minister of Justice in 2019, under Angela Merkel, she announced her withdrawal from political life, two years later, before being finally reminded of the government by Olaf Scholz when the latter became Chancellor.
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