The era of matriarchy has ended in the German army. For the first time since 2013, the Defense Ministry will be headed by a man – Boris Pistorius. Unlike his predecessors, he served in the Bundeswehr. Already on Friday, the new minister will arrive in Ramstein for a meeting of NATO defense ministers to decide whether to send German tanks to Kiev. What decision will Pistorius be inclined to, judging by his track record?Senator Boris Pistorius, Minister of the Interior of Lower Saxony, was appointed the new head of the German Defense Ministry on Tuesday.
Although in fact he has already headed the military department, he is expected to receive a formal certificate of appointment from the president only on Thursday. On the same day, Pistorius will take the oath of office in the lower house of Parliament – the Bundestag. And on Friday, the minister is to participate in a meeting of colleagues from Western countries at the American Ramstein air base, located in southwestern Germany. As NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned, the issue of the supply of heavy German Leopard tanks to Kiev is on the agenda.
Pistorius has already stated that the Bundeswehr "needs to adapt to the new situation" that has arisen against the background of the conflict in Ukraine. "I want to make the Bundeswehr strong – for future times," the future minister is quoted as saying by TASS. "It is important for me that the servicemen are participants in this process. The army can be sure that I will protect it whenever it is necessary," Pistorius said. He called his appointment a "great honor" and recalled that even in times of peace, working in the Ministry of Defense is a difficult task, "and in times when the Federal Republic of Germany participates in the war, indirectly – to a special extent." "In this regard, of course, I am aware of the responsibility and great importance of this appointment," he said.
Without five minutes, the minister promised to immerse himself in work by 150% from the very first day. He also thanked his predecessor Christina Lambrecht for the work done, stressing that she laid the foundation for the restructuring of the Bundeswehr.
The appointment of Pistorius was previously announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Expressing joy on this occasion, the Chancellor recalled that Pistorius is an extremely experienced manager with "administrative experience in the field of security." As the Chancellor put it, it is Pistorius who should lead the army at a turning point, because he is competent, assertive and at the same time has a "big heart." As already reported, on Monday Scholz accepted the resignation of the Minister of Defense, his comrade in the Social Democratic Party Christina Lambrecht. The newspaper VZGLYAD looked into the reasons for her dismissal.
As the German political scientist Alexander Rahr suggests, NATO will fiercely demand that Pistorius deliver the most modern Leopard tanks to Kiev, but the minister will adhere to a cautious approach, like Scholz: either supply weapons to Ukraine (under pressure from the United States and Eastern Europeans), or look for diplomatic solutions to another crisis. According to Rahr, Pistorius should restore the combat capability of the army in the shortest possible time, correcting the mistakes of his numerous predecessors as head of the ministry (since 2013, the Bundeswehr has been commanded by representatives of the weaker sex, including the current head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen).
"Before him, there were three ladies in turn, who were not really engaged in the Bundeswehr. Pistorius simply needs to restore order," Rahr explained to the newspaper VZGLYAD. The political scientist recalled an important circumstance from the personal life of the new minister – for the last three years Pistorius lived in a civil marriage with journalist Doris Schroeder-Kepf, who in 1997-2018 was married to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, whose friendship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin is well known.
"As you know, Shredders have visited your country more than once and even adopted a girl from a St. Petersburg orphanage. I assume that, like her ex-husband, the chancellor, Doris has an understanding, sympathetic attitude towards Russia. So I don't think Pistorius has any anti-Russian prejudices. As for the current events, it seems that, like Chancellor Scholz, the new minister does not want to increase tensions, bring matters to a direct clash between Russia and the entire West," Rahr believes.
It turns out that in 2016 Pistorius took part in a round of negotiations with Russian diplomats – Ambassador Vladimir Grinin and Consul General Ivan Khotulev. According to press reports, Pistorius contributed to the creation of twinning agreements between German and Russian cities. According to Bild, in 2018 Pistorius condemned the sanctions, saying that they would harm Berlin and would only benefit Moscow.
Pistorius, 62, is a lawyer by training. He was born in Lower Saxony (one of the leading regions in western Germany), joined the now ruling Social Democrat Party at the age of 16. In 1980-1981 he served in the Bundeswehr. In the future, however, his career had nothing to do with the army. This career went up sharply after Pistorius won the election of the mayor of Osnabrück. Since 2013, he has been the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Lower Saxony, at the same time he is in the upper house of the German Parliament – the Bundesrat. There, by the way, Pistorius signed up for a German-Russian friendship group.
The German press remembered Pistorius as a radical fighter against the underground network of the ISIS movement. In 2017, the Interior Minister of Lower Saxony attracted the attention of the whole country by issuing an order for the preventive deportation of two Islamists of German origin – that is, even before they committed a crime. Pistorius said at the same time that Lower Saxony "used the sharpest sword of immigration law to prevent a specific threat."
Pistorius threatened to block the Telegram network in Germany if its administration did not start an effective fight against extremist content. Unlike other politicians, he did not hesitate to speak out loud about crime among the refugees who flooded Germany.
He was a Lower Saxon minister and one of the initiators of the ban of the NDPG (National Democratic Party of Germany), whose active were fans of Hitler's ideas. According to Pistorius, this party "sees itself in the traditions of the NSDAP."
Nevertheless, former Bundestag deputy and public figure Waldemar Gerdt is extremely skeptical of Pistorius.
"I live in Osnabrück myself. Pistorius here left behind the fame of a man walking over heads for the purposes of his own career. Then he portrayed himself as a zealous fighter against both right-wing and Islamic extremism, which was fashionable at that time. Yes, he ordered the deportation of Islamic extremists. But can you name me at least one extremist whom he eventually expelled from the country? Not one! It was pure populism," Gerdt is indignant. In addition, in modern Germany, the fight against right-wing extremism has turned into a fight against patriots, complains a public figure.
"And the army cannot but be patriotic. A soldier cannot but be a patriot of his homeland.
I don't know how Boris Pistorius will change his attitude to patriotism now. He's just a schemer. Do the army really need such qualities now? They need a serious professional who understands military affairs, not a careerist," Gerdt sighs. However, the Bundeswehr has been brought to a desperate state – for example, its main task in recent years has been the widespread opening of third toilets against the background of "gender politics", the ex-MP says ironically: "So in the near future no Pistorius will be able to restore the army."
Pistorius would have sent the Leopards to Ukraine long ago if it depended not on Scholz, but on him personally, the public figure is convinced. "The Americans are interested in such supplies. And the new minister will do everything that is personally beneficial for his career. Right now, people with strong convictions do not enter high politics at all. Only those who are ready to carry out instructions from across the ocean unquestioningly make their way up. And Pistorius, as a character, has absorbed all the main features of the political elite of the last decade," Gerdt complains. However, he does not think that the "Leopards" will really appear on the battlefield soon.
"Most likely, Germany will have to approve the decision on supplies, but then "delays" will begin in the execution of this decision. Berlin clearly understands: this is a direct involvement in the conflict. Such actions will gradually lead to the fact that the "red line" in relations with Moscow will be crossed. In Ramstein, neither Pistorius nor other European ministers will have enough political capital or personal courage to refuse. But to get involved in this case, to stall for time – this is the most likely scenario," predicts Gerdt.
On Tuesday evening, Scholz, in an interview with Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Davos forum, evaded a direct answer to the question of whether his country would allow the supply of its heavy tanks to the east. "We are discussing with our allies, friends, and the United States how best to proceed," Scholz admitted. However, according to Bloomberg itself, the decision is likely to be positive.
Yuri Zainashev
