After Lambrecht’s resignation – Boris Pistorius becomes the new German Defense Minister – News

• Lower Saxony’s interior minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) surprisingly takes over the defense ministry in Germany.
• Chancellor Olaf Scholz will appoint Pistorius as the new Minister of Defense in the Federal Cabinet. He will be sworn in on Thursday.
• The 62-year-old is taking over from Christine Lambrecht, who offered to resign on Monday.
• With nine men and seven women, Scholz’s decision to make his own decision to fill his ministerial team in a balanced manner is invalidated.

At an appointment in the morning in Mainz, the Chancellor did not comment on this. In the past few days, several other names have been named as possible successors, including Chancellor Wolfgang Schmidt, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil and military commissioner Eva Högl.

Pistorius is now a surprise. The Interior Minister of Lower Saxony is considered an experienced political manager. In the past few years, Pistorius has gained a reputation as a knowledgeable specialist politician among the interior ministers of the federal and state governments.

Even though he always stayed in Lower Saxony, he was also involved in the internal political positioning of the federal SPD in election campaigns and in coalition negotiations.

Argumentative, but never disrespectful

At the conferences of interior ministers, Pistorius, who is considered to be pragmatic, always visibly enjoyed arguing with conservatives like former interior minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) on the open stage, quick-witted, with pointed remarks, but never disrespectful.

Perhaps Pistorius’ age also makes him the ideal candidate for the post of defense minister. At the age of 62, a politician can finally move into the executive office in the Bendlerblock, which is generally regarded as an ejection seat and therefore a potential career killer.

Pistorius’ ambitions

Pistorius was repeatedly said to have ambitions for a political office at the federal level. For example, there were rumors that he could become federal interior minister if the current incumbent, Nancy Faeser, runs for the SPD in the state elections in Hesse.

Pistorius completed an apprenticeship as a wholesale and foreign trade merchant. He did his military service from 1980 to 1981, after which he studied law in Osnabrück and Münster. He has been Minister of the Interior in Lower Saxony since 2013, and his third term of office began a few months ago. Before that he was mayor of Osnabrück from 2006 to 2013. Pistorius is widowed and has two daughters.

With the decision for Pistorius, Scholz undermines his own claim to fill his ministerial team equally. So far, eight men and eight women have headed the ministries; now there will be nine men and seven women.