Dhe misjudgment that Kay-Achim Schönbach spoke of later was probably inherent in his appearance at a think tank in the Indian capital of New Delhi. At the beginning of the event, which would then have such serious diplomatic consequences, the Inspector of the German Navy began his speech by saying that he was “partly making official statements”, but partly presenting his “private opinion and personal attitude”. become. The experienced commander-in-chief of the Navy may have overlooked the fact that if he appeared in uniform and gave his full title to the Indian think tank, the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analyzes (MP-IDSA), any statement would be considered official.
The occasion was the visit of the German frigate “Bayern” in the eastern Indian city of Mumbai, the first of a German warship in almost 20 years. The “personal opinion” with which Schönbach then unleashed a political storm came only after his forty-minute speech, in which he had spoken about Germany’s Indo-Pacific strategy as planned. Flanked by other uniformed men, Schönbach sat across from the Indian think tank hosts at a conference table. It was during the question and answer session in a relaxed atmosphere that the vice admiral got carried away with the statements about the Ukraine conflict and Russian President Putin, which eventually also spread to social media via a short Twitter video.
In it he described, among other things, the Russian annexation of the Ukrainian Crimea as an irreversible fact (“Crimea is gone, it will not come back”) and urged “respect” for Russian President Putin. It didn’t take long for the comments to spread widely. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry summoned the German ambassador and explained this with the “unacceptability of the statements”. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense in Berlin said that the content and choice of words in no way correspond to the position of the Federal Ministry of Defense. The Vice Admiral himself apologized on Twitter for his “imprudent” security policy statements.
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He could no longer undo it. Already on Saturday, the day after his appearance, Schönbach officially asked for his replacement. “I have just asked the Federal Minister of Defense to release me from my duties and duties as Inspector of the Navy with immediate effect,” he said. “The thoughtless statements I made in India about security and military policy are increasingly weighing on my office. In order to prevent further damage from the German Navy, the Bundeswehr, but above all the Federal Republic of Germany, I think this step is necessary.” He also announced that Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) had accepted his request. It was said that he would initially be replaced by Rear Admiral Jan Christian Kaack until a successor was found.