BERLIN, January 17. /TASS/. The new Defense Minister of Germany Boris Pistorius intends to "very closely" cooperate with the German Armed Forces to make the Bundeswehr "truly strong."
Speaking to Germany’s NTV, he said that he is honored to become the Minister of Defense, adding that he intends to get 150% involved from day one.
"I want the Bundeswehr to be strong," the Minister said, adding that the German Armed Forces face enormous challenges. At the same time, he thanked ex-Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht for her service, underscoring that she started the rebuilding of the Bundeswehr.
In the last few months, Lambrecht was criticized for insufficient provision of materiel to the Armed Forces. She was in 20th place in the German politicians’ popularity rating. The most recent cause for criticism was her New Year address, published on social media. It was recorded on the street amid exploding firecrackers, which made her words unintelligible. The media also considered that some of Lambrecht’s language was inappropriate. In particular, she said that a war is going on in the center of Europe that she had "special memories" and "many meetings with interesting and good people" connected to.
Pistorius, born in 1960, is a lawyer and a politician, a member of Germany’s Social-Democratic Party. He has served as the Minister of the Interior of Lower Saxony since 2013. Since 2017, he has been a member of the regional parliament in Hannover. Between 2006 and 2013, he served as Lord Mayor of Osnabrueck.
According to German political researcher Alexander Rahr, Pistorius will likely adhere to a cautious approach, like Chancellor Olaf Scholz: ship weapons to Ukraine occasionally, under pressure from the US and Eastern Europeans, while seeking a diplomatic resolution of the conflict. According to Rahr, NATO will viciously demand that Pistorius ship modern Leopard tanks to Kiev. At the same time, Pistorius will have to promptly restore the Bundeswehr’s combat capability and fix the mistakes of his predecessors as head of the Defense Ministry.