Boris Pistorius speaks in Hanover, Germany

Minister of Interior of the State of Lower Saxony, Boris Pistorius (L) and Head of Police of Hanover, Volker Kluew, in Hanover, Germany, on November 15, 2014. (Photo by Alexander Koerner/Getty Images)

PARIS — Boris Pistorius, an Army reservist and a current state minister of the interior, has been appointed Germany’s new defense minister and will be sworn in on Thursday.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz made the announcement in a written statement today after the resignation a day earlier of Christine Lambrecht in the wake of a series of perceived blunders. Critics said she was slow to make headway after Scholz announced a €100 billion ($108 USD) investment fund for the German armed forces just after Russia invaded Ukraine.

For months she had been the butt of criticism not only from the opposition conservative party but also from her and Scholz’s own party, the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The straw that broke the camel’s back was what was seen as a tone-deaf New Year’s greetings video on Instagram in which she said the conflict in Ukraine had meant she had gathered “many special impressions, many encounters with interesting, great people.”

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Pistorius, who is not well known on the international stage, was generally not included in German media speculation as a potential replacement for Lambrecht, as Scholz had promised gender parity in his government, leading observers to expect a woman to be nominated. The last three defense ministers were women.

The 62-year-old, a lawyer by trade, is also a member of the SDP, and has been serving as State Minister of Interior and Sports in the Lower Saxony state government since 2013. A widower with two daughters, Pistorius is known as a straight-talker, which has made him very popular in his home state, and is known to have some expertise in cyber-security, internal security and immigration policies. One facet of his biography sure to take on a different light today, he was a member of the German-Russian parliamentary friendship group before it was disbanded in April 2022.

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Speaking in Hanover today, he said that German “troops can be sure that I will stand in front of them whenever necessary. I want to make the Bundeswehr strong for the time that lies ahead.”

Pistorius takes over at a tense time in Europe, as Germany in particular has come under increasing pressure to increase its support for Ukraine, especially recently when it comes to the question of giving tanks to Kyiv. Though it’s to be noted that supply decisions for Ukraine are generally made in Scholz’s office, above Pistorius’ head.

The changeover also comes as US Secretary of Defense travels to Germany to meet with top German officials and join the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the US military’s Ramstein Air Base in Germany later this week.

More generally, the respected German weekly Der Spiegel stressed in a report that the job of defense minister in Germany is not an easy one. Headlining its article about the nomination “the red general” the article notes that “the sharp-tongued” Pistorius “has wanted to go to Berlin for a long time” but wonders if he is up to the task. “The state of our troops is deplorable and the army needs to be reformed now more than ever in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” it says.

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According to Patrick Sensburg, president of the Association of Reservists of the German Armed Forces, quoted by the Düsseldorf Rheinische Post, Pistorius “is assertive and has already dealt intensively with the security issues of our country. I’m sure that he’ll quickly familiarize himself with defense policy details.” He added that “the Reservist Association is pleased that a reservist is now at the head of the ministry, who has had good and intensive contacts with the reserve in Lower Saxony for a long time.”

Robert Habeck, a member of the Greens and federal minister of economics, said Pistorius is a very experienced politician who “has the necessary nervous strength to cope with difficult situations.”