The previous Lower Saxony Interior Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) is to become the new Defense Minister.
Pistorius did his military service in the early 1980s and made a name for himself as a politician as an interior expert.
According to Business Insider, the appointment and swearing-in ceremony are scheduled for Thursday morning.
Boris Pistorius (SPD) is to become the new Federal Defense Minister. This was confirmed to Business Insider on Tuesday morning. He succeeds Christine Lambrecht, who submitted her resignation on Monday. According to Business Insider, Pistorius is scheduled to be appointed and sworn in on Thursday morning.
Pistorius is 62 years old and has been Interior Minister of Lower Saxony since 2013. He gained experience in the Bundeswehr himself: in the early 1980s he did his military service south of Bremen. This makes him the first defense minister with Bundeswehr experience in ten years.
Pistorius joined the SPD at the age of 16 and studied law after graduating from high school and doing military service. He then worked as a lawyer, from 1991 as a personal assistant to the Lower Saxony Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Glogowski (SPD). From 2006 to 2013 he was mayor of his hometown of Osnabrück, after which he was appointed Minister of the Interior for Lower Saxony.
In the afternoon Pistorius appeared before the press. He said that Chancellor Scholz’s call “came very surprisingly” and only took place on Monday. From this it can be concluded that Pistorius was not the first choice.
However, the decision was not difficult for him: “I didn’t have to think long,” said Pistorius. He felt “humility and respect for the task” and emphasized: “I will throw myself into the task with 150 percent from day one”. He also said that he had already had points of contact with the topic. “As Interior Minister, I am responsible for relations with the Bundeswehr,” he said.
At the same time as Pistorius, Scholz also made a press statement and praised Pistorius. He said that the man from Lower Saxony has a lot of experience in security policy and has the “strength and calm that you need for such a task”. Scholz thanked Christine Lambrecht again and expressed his respect for her decision to resign.
CDU criticizes Pistorius’ appointment
Criticism of the decision comes from the opposition. “The Chancellor shows that he does not take his own turning point seriously,” said the deputy chairman of the Union faction, Johann Wadephul (CDU). “Again, expertise and experience with the Bundeswehr play no role,” criticized Wadephul.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) congratulated Pistorius on Twitter on the appointment and wrote that he was looking forward to the “good cooperation”.
More information coming soon.
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