JAKARTA - Germany appointed Boris Pistorius, who is relatively unknown as the new defense minister on Tuesday, amid demands to increase military aid to Ukraine.
Pistorius, Lower Saxony State Interior Minister, was a surprising choice to replace Christine Lambrecht, who resigned on Monday.
He will meet his new NATO counterparts as early as Friday at an important defense summit in Germany, where all eyes are on him, whether he approves the export of German fighting tanks Leopard to Ukraine, one of the two homeworks (PR) he has been waiting for.
Ukraine's allies will meet at Ramstein US Air Base in Germany on Friday, to consider their latest support for Kyiv.
Another task is to modernize the German military after years of lack of funds and equipment issues, with 100 billion euros (108.2 billion US dollars) available for new hardware.
"Pistorius is a very experienced politician tested in government, has been dealing with security policies for years and is the right person thanks to his competence, his ability to convey and his great heart," Chancellor Olaf Scholz said. January 17th.
Having a lawyer background, Pistorius attended military service for a year in the West German era, but he has never served in national politics.
"Pistorius is a political professional who handles the crisis in an efficient and directed way. He is the right person for this challenging job," said MP Christos Pantazis.
Like the Chancellor, he is a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and is involved in a coalition talk that led Scholz to power in 2021. He was once Mayor of Osnabrueck, the birthplace of Chancellor Scholz.
It is known that Chancellor Scholz's government is considered to have moved too slowly to complete Ukraine's weapons, criticized for detaining the Leopard tank that Kyiv had long requested.
Pistorius will oversee the delivery of Marder's war vehicle while deciding whether to send Leopard, once Britain has confirmed it is offering the Challenger fighting tank to Ukraine.
Experts will also observe whether Pistorius can avoid public misrelations that also bring down Lambrecht, such as private messages for New Year's Eve which are considered wrong by many people.
It is known that the Minister of Defense was the supreme commander of the German armed forces in peace times.
Unless there is a broader reshuffle, the appointment of Pistorius to replace Lambrecht will deny Chancellor Scholz's promise to run the cabinet in a gender balance.
"Unfortunately the chancellor and SPD have released their own gender parity goals. There are some quality women in that frame," said Nyke Slawik, a member of parliament from the Greens.
Previously, a number of figures were rumored to be replacing Lambrecht, including the representative Siemtje Moeller and German Parliament Armed Forces Commissioner Eva Hoegl, two women whose names were mentioned.
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