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Bloomberg
German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht stepped down following a series of missteps and days of speculation over her future, a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government as it weighs crucial decisions on arming Ukraine.
Lambrecht asked to be relieved of her cabinet post, blaming intense media reporting as an unacceptable distraction, and Scholz accepted the request and respects the decision, the government said Monday.
The German leader will propose a replacement for his fellow Social Democrat “promptly,†though that’s unlikely to happen before Tuesday, Christiane Hoffmann, a deputy Scholz spokeswoman, said at the regular government news conference in Berlin.
Lambrecht will remain in office until a successor is appointed by the federal president, Hoffmann added.
Among the potential candidates are SPD defense expert Eva Hoegl, Scholz’s chancellery chief of staff Wolfgang Schmidt and Labor Minister Hubertus Heil. SPD co-leaders Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil have also been named, as well as former SPD leader Andrea Nahles, who currently heads the federal labor office.
The 57-year-old Lambrecht, a trained lawyer, came under close scrutiny over a perceived lack of military expertise, with the criticism intensifying after a poorly executed New Year’s Eve video that seemed to make light of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Lambrecht’s departure hits close to home for Scholz. He had picked her as one of his deputies when he served as finance minister in Angela Merkel’s final term and had stood by her in recent weeks even as criticism mounted.
The process has been messy. Reports of her pending resignation surfaced on Friday. The government declined to comment for days, leaving the uncertainty hanging.
The Social Democrats are responsible for appointing a successor, and time is pressing. A meeting of senior defense officials from allied nations is scheduled for Friday at the US airbase in Ramstein, Germany. Before the gathering, the government is expected to make a decision on tank deliveries.
Scholz has pledged to keep gender parity when it comes to the SPD minister posts. This would mean that he either picks another woman or implements a broader reshuffle in the cabinet.