VDefense Minister Boris Pistorius wants to implement the announced restructuring of his ministry’s management structure by the end of May. This was announced by his ministry on Thursday evening. The SPD politician is concerned with “implementing the turning point faster and more powerfully and making it visible in the ministry”.
The central element is a new planning and management staff. Pistorius had announced that this should be led by Brigadier General Christian Freuding. On Thursday, the minister presented his plans at staff meetings in Berlin and Bonn.
There had been criticism of the structures and long decision-making processes in the Ministry of Defense and subordinate federal authorities because of the slow start to the course correction after the Russian attack on Ukraine.
“The new staff will ensure that the decision-making documents for the management level are better prepared. In addition, the staff ensures that the decisions of the management level are carried back into the house and implemented there quickly,” the ministry said. “No new posts will be created for the new staff. Instead, the offices of the state secretaries, the inspector general and the minister will be reduced accordingly.”
Since 1968, the ministry had had a planning staff for the development and analysis of central military-strategic goals, which was abolished in 2012 under CDU Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière.
In addition to the introduction of the new management staff, two staffs are to be transferred to departments, as the ministry explained: “The “Organization and Auditing” staff will be merged into the Legal Department. The “Armament Strategic Control” staff will be transferred to the Equipment department.”
In a further step, the work of the departments should soon be checked. “Then it will be a matter of dismantling possible duplicate structures and improving coordination.”