Germany has nominated a new defense minister as European nations press Berlin to authorize the deployment of German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s cabinet selected Boris Pistorius as defense chief on Tuesday, replacing the scandal-plagued Christine Lambrecht, who resigned a day earlier.
Pistorius, a member of Scholz’s ruling Social Democrat Party (SPD), will step down as Interior Minister of Lower Saxony. He rose to national prominence during the 2015 refugee crisis and is regarded for being tough on security matters.
“Pistorius is an extremely experienced politician who is tried and tested in administration. [He] has dealt with security policy for years,” Scholz said.
“With his competence, assertiveness and big heart, he is exactly the right person to lead the Bundeswehr [armed forces] through this turning point,” he said in a statement.
Pistorius’ appointment comes ahead of a summit scheduled for Friday at the US Rammstein airfield in southwestern Germany, where Ukraine’s allies are expected to consider increasing military support for Kyiv.
In a statement seen by the Reuters news agency, German economy minister Robert Habeck said, “There are important decisions to be made in the short term, in particular, the urgent question of how we continue to support Ukraine in its right to self-defence.”
“Germany bears a responsibility here and has major tasks to accomplish.”
While other European countries have stocks of the sought-after German tanks, they can only be sent to Kyiv after first being approved by Berlin.
“I have stated since the beginning of the war, we should give the Ukrainian armed forces the military weapons they need and that they can manage,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Al Jazeera on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. If they are advanced technology, I still hold the same position, and I believe major conversations will take place in Rammstein on January 20, and I hope positive judgments will be made.”
The United Kingdom acknowledged the first supply of 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine on Monday.
In his speech to Parliament, British defence secretary Ben Wallace said that Germany would not be alone if they sent tanks to Kyiv.
In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the British tanks would “burn just like the rest”.
