The SPD is now leading the force: that will be the case for the new defense minister

The SPD is now leading the force
That will be the case for the new defense minister

From Maximilian Beer

When she was introduced, Christiane Lambrecht said that her nomination would come as a surprise to many. Now the SPD politician heads the demanding, rather conservative defense department. That could lead to tension in your party. But the occupation is also an opportunity.

It is seldom that the Bendlerblock receives as much attention as it did on Thursday, December 2nd, 2021. The big tattoo for Angela Merkel: drums, trumpets and a fully occupied grandstand in front of this massive building in Berlin. Anyone who didn’t know better could get the impression that this was the center of German politics. But now it should be quieter again at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Defense.

Much quieter, certainly. But for Christine Lambrecht, the new head of department, the coming years should be anything but boring. This is due to tiresome problems such as the equipment and line-up of the troops and the reputation of the Bundeswehr. But that could also be due to Lambrecht’s own party, the SPD. It was the Social Democrats in the Bundestag who, months ago, rated two central security policy projects of the traffic light government completely differently than they do today.

Armed drones and US atomic bombs

First, there are the armed drones. Under parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich, who repeatedly set accents in defense policy in the past, the SPD blocked an acquisition. A purchase as requested by the Union and representatives of the armed forces and as it is now in the coalition agreement. In the parliamentary group itself, the debate at the end of 2020 caused upheavals: The SPD security expert Fritz Felgentreu, who was respected across party lines and a proponent of weapon systems, resigned from his position as defense policy spokesman. At the end of the legislative period he left parliament, and the question remains whether the parliamentary group will support a more realpolitical course in security policy without grumbling. The SPD party congress last weekend in any case suggests the opposite: An application from Bavaria with the title “No armed drones for the Bundeswehr!” Was called. Now the party executive wants to discuss the matter.

Second, it is similar with nuclear participation. Here, too, it was Mützenich in particular who publicly insisted on the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from Rhineland-Palatinate. In October he criticized the then Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, because the CDU politician had professed to participate in NATO’s nuclear deterrent. Kramp-Karrenbauer was turning the “escalation screw” with Russia, said the parliamentary group leader.

Against the background of the tensions on the Russian-Ukrainian border, the topic is unlikely to lose its relevance. It remains a sensitive issue for the SPD: While parts of the party are resisting nuclear participation, the new government apparently wants to hold on to it. The coalition agreement states: “At the beginning of the 20th legislative period we will procure a successor system for the Tornado fighter aircraft. We will accompany the procurement and certification process with a view to Germany’s nuclear participation objectively and conscientiously.” The purchase of US military aircraft of the type F / A-18 “Super Hornet”, which could drop US atomic bombs in the worst-case scenario, is under discussion.

“This will be a permanent fight”

But the government program also holds the opportunity for the SPD to make a new profile in defense policy. In addition to the expected commitment to NATO, there is also the intention that foreign missions should be checked regularly. That would apply to the ongoing missions in Mali, for example. Furthermore, Berlin is to become an observer, if not a member of the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty: an agreement that came into force at the beginning of this year with the aim of a world free of nuclear weapons. Since Germany – like the nuclear powers – rejected the paper, the entry into observer status is remarkable. However, it remains to be seen how this is compatible with nuclear participation.

It is questions like these that Lambrecht has to answer. “The minister will soon have initial talks and will have to explain internationally what Berlin plans to do in the coming years,” says Christian Mölling from the German Society for Foreign Policy. That will probably also affect NATO’s two percent target, which does not appear in the coalition agreement. In general, according to Mölling, Lambrecht has to explain the financing of its policy to alliance partners, for example with a view to the equipment of the troops. “The minister has to get money for all her ambitions from day one,” says the foreign and security expert. “It’s going to be a permanent fight.”

SPD left moves into conservative house

It should not fail because of Lambrecht’s experience in federal politics. The 56-year-old has been in parliament since 1998, in the previous government she was first State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, then Minister of Justice and finally, on top of that, acting head of the family department. In fact, she had already announced her departure from politics in Berlin. Lambrecht can compensate for the fact that she had no significant contact with defense policy in her career with good leadership. With Siemtje Möller and Thomas Hitschler as parliamentary state secretaries, she takes two experts with her to the Bendler block.

There Lambrecht, who belongs to the left wing of the SPD, will meet a rather conservative house. “That affects structure and mentality,” says Mölling. The decisive factor is whether the minister will continue with the old staff or start over. As reported by the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, according to reports, there is already resentment because long-term employees had to leave.

Then there are the troops’ problems with young talent. It competes with the private sector for specialists, according to Mölling, so more money will have to flow into the Wehr’s personnel budget in the future. “Germany has not invested enough for 20 years.” The current financial planning of the federal government provides for an overall shrinking defense budget: from the current 46.9 to 46.7 billion euros in 2025. Without an increasing budget, however, modernization would also fall by the wayside, according to Mölling.

More modern equipment and procurement are goals by which Lambrecht will be measured. Here, however, the minister is sometimes dependent on parliament, says Mölling, because legal framework conditions, for example for the right to tender, have to be changed.

Acceptance for the armed forces – and the SPD

It is different when it comes to the reputation of the troops, where improvement primarily requires communicative persuasion. For while the existence of the armed forces is anchored in the Basic Law, the debate about them has for years been determined by existential questions: What is the Bundeswehr needed for? And apart from that: how up-to-date are torchlight marches?

Both will remain and are necessary – the discussion about the role and demeanor of around 180,000 soldiers as well as attention to anti-constitutional tendencies. And it is precisely because Lambrecht’s own party has recently noticeably alienated the military that the new “owner of command and command” can look forward to exciting years.

Years in which Lambrecht was able to win back not only more acceptance for the troops, but also for the SPD as a security force. The fact that, in addition to the defense department, the Ministry of the Interior is also headed by a social democrat should not be a disadvantage for the party.

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