The new German Defense Minister Pistorius was compared with Stirlitz

The last man before Pistorius to serve as Minister of Defense of the Federal Republic was Thomas de Maizières. And it was in 2013. After that, the post was successively held by three women: Ursula von der Leyen (the current head of the European Commission), Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Christina Lambrecht. Most of all, of course, I remember the last one. And not only because, as the unforgettable Max Otto von Stirlitz taught, the last words and last impressions are usually remembered.

Christina Lambrecht, objectively speaking, tried hard to remain in history. More precisely, get in. None of her predecessors did so much in such a short time to discredit the idea of ​​​​feminizing the department. No, of course, no one demands from the German military ministers – and even more so ministers – that they understand military affairs like real warriors: this post is purely political. The inspector general of the Bundeswehr is responsible for purely military matters (the closest Russian analogue is the chief of the General Staff). Since April 2018, the post of Inspector General has been held by Eberhard Zorn.

But the incompetence she showed was blatant even for a politician. During an interview that Lambrecht gave shortly after taking office, in December 2021, she was asked if she could distinguish a senior lieutenant from a lieutenant colonel (in German, these sound very similar – “Oberleutnant” and “Oberstleutnant”). And Lambrecht, with childish spontaneity, replied that, since she was a civilian, it was difficult for her “to remember everything at once.” And when, a few months later, the question was repeated in another interview, it turned out that the memory of the minister was truly a girl’s: she did not learn to distinguish between military ranks.

This, of course, is not the only embarrassment. There were many other failures – and, so to speak, communication, and essential. Among other things, Lambrech was blamed, for example, for the complete lack of progress in the rearmament of the Bundeswehr: additional money from the budget was allocated for this (100 billion euros!), And allocated a long time ago, back in the spring of 2022, but new orders for the defense industry from the defense Departments until the end of the year practically did not receive.

The last drop in this bowl was a New Year’s video posted on her page on the social network, in which Lambrecht, with her characteristic innocence, summed up the outgoing year: “A war is raging in the center of Europe. A lot of special impressions were connected with this for me, which I was able to Many, many meetings with interesting, wonderful people…” The video provoked a real flurry of criticism in the press: only a lazy journalist did not doubt the intelligence of the Minister of Defense.

Actually, after this scandal, Lambrecht resigned. The reason was the “media focus” on her person, which, they say, does not allow “objectively covering and discussing” the activities of the Bundeswehr and issues related to the defense of the country.

Such a background, of course, greatly facilitates the life of Pistorius. At least in the initial period of his ministerial activity, on a “probationary period.” To look more incompetent and more stupid than his predecessor, really, is difficult. At least in military ranks, the new defense minister is quite versed: behind him – the only one in Scholz’s office – military service in the Bundeswehr. Pistorius’s military specialty is the driver of an “anti-aircraft tank”, ZSU “Gepard” (we are talking about the same “Cheetahs” that were transferred to Ukraine).

True, from then until last Thursday, January 19, when Pistorius was officially approved in his new position, his life path did not intersect with the Bundeswehr. But on the other hand, he coincided for a long time with another power structure: he went on promotion from the post of Minister of the Interior and Sports of the Land of Lower Saxony, where he played for almost exactly 10 years. Pistorius earned a reputation as a competent and tough land minister. And even the flattering nickname “Red Sheriff”. Red is the main heraldic color of his party, the SPD.

The German press finds many advantages in Pistorius: an experienced political manager, pragmatic, energetic, assertive … But, as usual, there were some skeletons in the closet. Well, skeletons, of course, by German standards. Before the start of the Ukrainian crisis, even among his comrades in his party, a party that was considered a stronghold of the “Putinversteher” (Putinversteher, German – “understanding Putin”), Pistorius was known as a pro-Russian politician.

Pistorius, who sits on the party’s board, has criticized the former foreign minister, the Social Democrat Heiko Maas, for his overly harsh “Russian” policies. He advocated the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions, arguing that they are detrimental to Germany itself: “This should be a reason to review the sanctions. If you do not achieve your goals, then you must ask yourself whether the chosen tools are correct.”

As a member of the Bundesrat, the de facto upper house of the German parliament (according to the country’s constitution, the parliament is unicameral), consisting of representatives of the state governments, Pistorius was a member of the “friendship group with Russia”, which regularly contacted colleagues from the Russian Federation Council.

Finally, Pistorius is “charged” with close, almost family ties with another well-known German “Putinfersteier” – ex-Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schroeder, who does not hide his friendly relations with the Russian president. It is known that the “former” Pistorius, with whom he broke up not so long ago, Doris Schroeder-Köpf, is an even more “former” Schroeder, his fourth wife. There is even a version that it was Doris who instilled sympathy for Russia in Pistorius.

“Has the chancellor appointed a man to head the Bundeswehr who downplays the threat from Putin?” – Bild tabloid worries. And the first steps of the new minister seem to confirm this assumption. Well, to be more precise, only the very first step is noticeable so far: Pistorius’s participation in the next “Ramstein” – a regular meeting of defense ministers of countries supporting Ukraine, which took place the day after its approval.

As you know, the participants of the meeting did not manage to work out an agreed decision on the issue of transferring Western-made main battle tanks to Ukraine. The stumbling block here, as before, is the position of Berlin. Germany, represented by Pistorius, not only refused to supply its Leopards to Ukraine, but also did not allow coalition partners to do so (the re-export of weapons is impossible without the permission of the manufacturing country).

However, it would be a delusion, to put it mildly, to believe that with the appointment of Pistorius, “our man”, practically a second Stirlitz, appeared in Berlin. Firstly, according to Pistorius himself, after February 24, 2018, his attitude towards Russia and its authorities changed dramatically. He called his former ideas “false hope, false faith.” It is also known that, as the Minister of the Interior of Lower Saxony, he banned the public demonstration in the region of the special operation symbol – the letter Z.

Secondly, in order to get rid of suspicions of being pro-Russian, from attacks by the press, Pistorius will most likely be forced to pursue a more “hawkish” policy – to adhere to an emphatically tough course towards Moscow. And accordingly – the pro-Ukrainian course. His first “Ramstein” in this sense is not an indicator at all. Here he simply carried out the directives given by the Chancellor. It is not at all a fact that in the future it will not acquire its own political face.

In short, it is better not to dream of the impossible. He will never be Stirlitz. Not our man.