When German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Boris Pistorius as his new defence minister, the first reaction of most Germans was probably: Who is this guy?
Many people have likely heard his name for the first time today, as Pistorius spent most of his political career in the state of Lower Saxony, where he is the interior minister, rarely making an appearance in Berlin.
Furthermore, he has no experience in the area of defence.
So why did Scholz pick such a no-name as his defence minister to oversee the crucial task of making the Zeitenwende – Germany’s new era of foreign policy – a success? The answer is probably in between a lack of choice and the wish to pick somebody loyal.
When the news of Christine Lambrecht’s resignation dropped, most observers placed their bet on Eva Högl as the new defence minister.
Not only is she an experienced defence politician currently serving as the defence commissioner of the Bundestag, but she is also a woman: Given that the governing coalition has pledged to have gender balance in the government, it’s a factor not to be neglected.
However, in the end, Scholz broke his promise of having the same amount of men and women in the government, despite this obvious choice.
It is possible that Scholz turned down Högl due to her forthright opinions on some defence matters – she recently pushed to expand the budget of the Bundeswehr by a whopping €200 billion.
Better to have a defence minister without any expertise who at least follows suit may have been Scholz’s logic.
However, even with Högl out of the race, Pistorius was far from the obvious choice.
Scholz already had a lot of loyal supporters who could have filled the spot, among them chancellery minister Wolfgang Schmidt and particularly Labour minister Hubertus Heil.
But both of them ultimately declined. Heil even publicly commented on the issue, stating that he was not interested.
“I am the Federal Minister of Labour, and I have a lot of plans – and in that office,” he told broadcaster ARD on Monday.
The post of defence minister is seen by many as a political grave of sorts. Given the desolate condition of the Bundeswehr and the herculean task to reform it, it is likely that many of the forerunners in the SPD would have been more than happy to pass on the opportunity.
After his close confidants made it clear that they were not interested, Scholz appears to have made his pick based only on loyalty. As Pistorius has neither the necessary expertise nor a power base in Berlin, he will likely swallow any pill the chancellor may serve him.
Only time will tell, but putting Pistorius at the top of the defence ministry may quite possibly mean that Scholz has sacrificed the success of his own Zeitenwende.
Pistorius is not only without experience in the defence sector – but according to some, he has also been relatively pro-Russian in the past, which could prove devastating in the current climate.
There are already some hints to support this claim. For instance, the Russophile lobbyist for Gazprom, Alexander Rahr, was quick to endorse Pistorius’ appointment, stating that he is likely to take a cautious approach towards Russia.
Let us hope that Scholz’s preference for loyalty over competence won’t backfire in the future.
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Look out for…
- European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg continues.
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Views are the author’s.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic/Alice Taylor]
Source: euractiv.com
