BERLIN — Within hours of being sworn in, Germany’s new defense minister is expected to hold talks with the US defense minister. A day later, he will represent Germany’s armed forces at a meeting with European allies awaiting major decisions on the war in Ukraine.
It won’t be an easy first week for any new government official, let alone someone familiar only with local politics, with no experience on the national or world stage.
But that’s the phase Boris Pistorius will soon find themselves.
Although Mr. Pistorius has won critical acclaim during his nine years running Lower Saxony’s interior ministry, he has no background knowledge of global foreign or security issues. For Germany’s allies, the transition could be equally disconcerting.
Little is known about his views on the biggest questions of the day, from military spending on NATO to his vision of Germany’s future approach to Russia.
“He is being thrown into the abyss immediately – and all of us,” said Uwe Jun, a political scientist at Trier University who focuses on Prime Minister Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party. is anxiously watching to see how the country suits him.” party of the federal government of Germany.
Mr Jun called the prime minister’s decision to promote Mr Pistorius, a longtime Social Democratic Party figure, to such an important position a “complete surprise”.
The choice is not only unexpected but risky for a prime minister who has declared that his country needs to fundamentally rethink its military stance.
“Zeitenwende” – “turning point” – is the term Mr. Scholz used to describe his vision of advancing German foreign policy for decades that was peaceful and tentative. He bolstered it with a massive spending package of 100 billion euros (about $108 billion) to restart Germany’s armed forces during a time of growing instability in Europe.
“This is not just a change of one minister, this is a change in a key ministry,” said Claudia Major, a defense expert at Germany’s Institute of International and Security Affairs. “If he chooses the right person, if this person can change everything – that will determine Scholz’s success at Zeitenwende.“
Days after Russia invaded Ukraine last February, Germany’s new chancellor captured the world’s attention by pledging to finally meet Germany’s commitments to NATO to spend 2% of its gross domestic product. domestic products for national defense and military modernization. Since then, however, Scholz’s government has lagged behind its European allies in assisting Ukraine, always delaying long enough to be pushed by the allies to supply new weapons.
And although that approach is widely acknowledged to have been devised by the prime minister, who has repeatedly insisted not to “do it alone”, the face of this seeming half-baked is often his. Defense Minister is goneChristine Lambrecht.
Ms Lambrecht resigned after months of criticism over her handling of military modernization, which critics saw as slow and uninteresting. And her public messages about Ukraine often sound deafening. Most memorable was her announcement about Germany providing 5,000 helmets to Ukraine at the beginning of the war – when other European countries started sending weapons.
The first big test for Pistorius has arrived.
This week, pressure is growing on Germany delivery of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraineor at least allow other European countries to do the same. Because the battle tanks are all German-made, such a transfer requires Berlin’s approval and there are growing expectations that a decision could be made by the end of the week.
On Thursday, the same day Mr. Pistorius begins his term as defense minister, his US counterpart, Lloyd J. Austin III, is scheduled to hold talks in Berlin. Later on Friday, members of the US-led Ukraine Defense Liaison Group will meet at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
Anton Hofreiter, the head of the European Union committee in the German parliament and a strong supporter of supplying more weapons to Ukraine, said the allies – especially those that want to send Leopards, like Poland , Finland and Spain – are hoping to get the green light.
“There is an expectation that there are no more delays with Leopard, that Germany really takes on the coordinating role as a manufacturing nation,” Mr. Hofreiter said.
Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, a foreign policy expert at the German Marshall Fund, a Berlin-based think-tank, said the best outcome for the Ramstein meeting would be the creation of an “European newspaper consortium.” Europe”.
“But the key here is Germany,” he said.
Although Germany may approve Leopard exports from other European countries, it is unlikely to supply many of its own Leopard 2 tanks.
Last weekend, Armin Papperger, head of German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, said his company needed a year to refurbish the 22 used Leopard 2 tanks it had in stock. Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, the tank builder, is said to have a number of used Leopard 2 tanks in stock, but did not say how many or when.
In his first public remarks after his appointment, Mr. Pistorius, 62, signaled his willingness to meet expectations.
“I want to make the German armed forces strong for the time being,” he told journalists on Tuesday. “I understand the significance of this quest at the moment.”
Mr. Pistorius received a cautiously warm welcome from two other parties in Mr. Scholz’s tripartite governing coalition, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats.
“Boris Pistorius is very interested in the military and security policy, and is seen as open to valid arguments,” said Sara Nanni, Green Party security spokeswoman in parliament.
But given how crucial the moment is, other figures in the coalition say they won’t go easy on the new minister.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, head of the defense committee in Parliament, referring to the armed forces, said: “He will not be granted a grace period because of the dramatic international situation and the state of the country. Bundeswehr.
Strack-Zimmermann, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, told German website T-Online, “We will work with him constructively and support him, provided that he exclusively represent the interests of the soldiers.”
The Christian Democrats, the leading opposition party, promised cooperation but made no secret of their skepticism about appointing a novice on international affairs.
Their parliamentary vice-president, Johann Wadephul, said: “The prime minister shows he doesn’t take his Zeitenwende seriously. Writing on Twitter, he criticized Pistorius’ inexperience and called him a “choice from Team B”.
While Mr. Pistorius can be quickly measured against the outcome of the Ramstein meeting, it’s a questionable metric: The decision on tank deliveries, security experts agree, has probably been made. out at the prime minister, with Washington’s coordination.
Mr. Scholz has long been seen as the main force behind decisions on military assistance to Ukraine – and the most hesitant. It is possible that the prime minister chose Mr. Pistorius on the assumption that the new minister would faithfully follow the prime minister’s line, said Jun, the political scientist.
But that is not certain, as little is known about the new minister’s views.
One of the few foreign policy stances that the German media dug into Mr. Pistorius on Tuesday was his push for Germany to drop sanctions on Russia in 2018, calling them economically damaging. for Germany and was ineffective in pressuring Moscow over the annexation of Crimea.
That was the line of the Social Democratic Party at the time. By contrast, Mr. Pistorius’ statements about Russia since last year’s invasion of Ukraine have been harshly criticized.
There is still room for uncertainty about the position of the new appointee, Mr. Kleine-Brockhoff said.
“We know his professional personality traits, we know his experience, but we don’t know his views on any of the major issues of the day,” he said. “This set of open-ended questions is a problem in itself.”
