Germany's Defense Minister Resigns

Facts

• Germany's defense minister Christine Lambrecht resigned on Monday amid criticism of her handling of military support to Ukraine, communication blunders, and slow progress in implementing plans to rearm the country.
• This comes as Berlin has been increasingly pressed to send German-built Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine or at least authorize their delivery from third countries such as Poland. Kyiv considers them essential in Ukraine's war effort against Moscow.
• Lambrecht is the highest-ranking official of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government, which entered office last year, to resign. Her departure is likely to be seen as a blow to Scholz and his Social Democratic Party after he recently called her a "first-rate defense minister."
• In a written farewell statement, she praised "the valuable work of the soldiers and many people" in the department and blamed the media for preventing a factual debate about the military and Germany's security policy.
• Multiple media outlets reported over the weekend that her resignation was imminent, following a series of missteps — including a minute-long controversial New Year's Eve video whose message opposition lawmakers considered inappropriate in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war.
• German media have speculated that Social Democratic Party leader Lars Klingbeil, long-time Labor Minister Hubertus Heil, and the special parliamentary commissioner for the Bundeswehr military, Eva Högl, could replace Lambrecht as Defense Minister, but Scholz stated it was too early to discuss it on Monday.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, BBC News, New York Times, Al Jazeera, CNBC, and DW.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by New European. Lambrecht was evidently the wrong person for the job. She did not take the Ukraine war seriously enough and used a helicopter for personal use. Now that she has resigned, Chancellor Scholz may appoint a qualified minister that will help to revert decades of neglect for the German armed forces.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Zero Hedge. While Lambrecht has reportedly committed several gaffes during her term in the Scholz government, the main reason she came under fire was her hesitancy to ramp up defense aid to Ukraine as Berlin faces pressure from other NATO allies. Lambrecht was simply under immense political pressure from this simmering geopolitical conflict.

Predictions