Christine Lambrecht
Christine Lambrecht | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 27 June 2019 – 8 December 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chancellor | Angela Merkel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Katarina Barley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Marco Buschmann | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany | 19 June 1965||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Social Democratic Party (1987–) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse |
Hans-Joachim Hacker
(m. 2015–2019) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Occupation |
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Christine Lambrecht (born 19 June 1965) is a German senior politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as the German Federal Minister of Defence in the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, from 2021 to 2023.[1][2] In Chancellor Angela Merkel's administration, Lambrecht previously served as Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection (2019–2021),[3] Minister for Family Affairs (2021) and as one of two Parliamentary State Secretaries at the Federal Ministry of Finance (2018– 2019).[4] She previously held various roles within the SPD Parliamentary Group, including as a Deputy Leader (from 2011 to 2013) and from December 2013 to September 2017 as first parliamentary secretary of the SPD parliamentary group.
Education and early career
Lambrecht attended the
Political career
Career in local politics
Lambrecht joined the SPD in 1982 and was a member of the Viernheim City Council from 1985 till 2001, of which she was the chair in the years 1997 till 2001. Additionally she was a member of the Bergstraße County Council from 1989 until 1997.
Member of the German Parliament, 1998–2021
Lambrecht first became a Member of the
From 2002 until 2005 and from 2013 until 2017, Lambrecht served on the parliamentary body in charge of appointing judges to the Highest Courts of Justice, namely the
Following the 2009 elections, Lambrecht became her parliamentary group's spokesperson on legal affairs. In 2011, she was elected as a deputy leader of the SPD parliamentary group, under the leadership of chairman Frank-Walter Steinmeier. She was a deputy leader of the group till her election as first parliamentary secretary of the SPD parliamentary group after the 2013 federal election. In the ensuing negotiations to form a third coalition government under Chancellor Angela Merkel, she was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on internal and legal affairs, led by Hans-Peter Friedrich and Thomas Oppermann.
In the negotiations to form Merkel’s fourth coalition government following the 2017 federal elections, Lambrecht was part of the working group on financial policies and taxes, led by Peter Altmaier, Andreas Scheuer and Olaf Scholz. In Merkel's fourth cabinet, she joined the federal government as one of two Parliamentary State Secretaries serving under Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.
Federal Minister of Justice, 2019–2021
On 19 June 2019 it was announced that Lambrecht would succeed justice minister Katarina Barley on the 1 July 2019, after the latter moved to Brussels to serve in the European Parliament.[7] During Lambrecht's time in office, German authorities fined Facebook 2 million euros for under-reporting complaints about illegal content on its social media platform in breach of the country’s law on internet transparency.[8] In December 2019, she proposed a law requiring internet service providers like Gmail or WhatsApp to handover personal data including passwords upon request.[9]
In response to the burning of an Israeli flag at a demonstration in 2017, Lambrecht led efforts in 2020 to make the destruction of foreign state flags, including that of the European Union, and the denigration of national anthems punishable by a fine and up to three years in prison.[10]
In September 2020, Lambrecht announced that she would not stand in the 2021 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.[11]
Federal Minister for Family Affairs, 2021
In May 2021, Lambrecht additionally took on the portfolio of the Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Women, and Youth, after Franziska Giffey resigned in reaction to her plagiarism affair.
Federal Minister of Defence, 2021–2023
Lambrecht was named Federal Minister of Defence in the cabinet of Olaf Scholz, taking office on 8 December 2021.[12] At the time, German defence forces were in a very bad condition. In one of her first speeches, Lambrecht asked for more money for the German army. Referring to many deficiencies in the materiel, she said that the army was too often ridiculed for helicopters that did not fly and guns that did not hit.[13] Indeed, Lambrecht was not exaggerating as it had been known for years that the army was lacking 20-30 billion euros worth of ammunition.[14]
Early in her tenure, Lambrecht and Germany as a whole were severely criticized for their very sluggish response to requests by Kyiv for military aid in face of the threatening Russian invasion. In January 2022 Lambrecht and much of the German public opinion eschewed weapons in favor of non-lethal items. In the end, Lambrecht offered 5,000 helmets and a field hospital and said that it was "a clear signal that Germany was behind Ukraine". Lambrecht probably intended it as such, but the offer was received very differently. Ukraine's capital's mayor,
In early February Lambrecht oversaw efforts to send up to 350 more German troops to Lithuania, reinforcing a German-led
With regard to the air force, the ministry quickly announced plans to purchase 35 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter jets to replace its Panavia Tornado.[18] and to buy 60 Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy transport helicopters worth around 5 billion euros ($5.40 billion).[19]
In March 2022, Lambrecht was openly criticized by Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the Ukrainian president, for saying that "NATO won't intervene in the Russo-Ukrainian War". Podolyak stated that each such statement encourages the Russian massacre in Ukraine.[20]
In response to the
By April 2022, Lambrecht announced that the German army's stocks are depleted and additional deliveries have to come from the arms manufacturers directly.[24]
In May 2022, Lambrecht led negotiations with fellow cabinet members Christian Lindner and Annalena Baerbock as well as Mathias Middelberg on securing a two-thirds majority in parliament needed to change Germany’s constitution to allow for a credit-based special defense fund of 100 billion euros ($107.35 billion).[25]
In August 2022, Lambrecht sent 13 military aircraft to join the Exercise Pitch Black in Australia, the German Air Force’s largest peacetime deployment, underlining Germany’s increased focus on the Indo-Pacific amid rising tensions with China in the region.[26]
In October 2022, Lambrecht visited Odesa to meet with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, in her first visit to the country since the invasion.[27]
In a widely criticized New Year's Eve address she stated that the
On 16 January 2023, Lambrecht announced her decision to step down as Defence Minister.[2] This came after she had repeatedly been criticized for her work in the role and after multiple politically embarrassing incidents.[29][30] Lambrecht blamed the media for focusing on her, instead of conducting fact based reporting.[31] A few weeks after her resignation it became clear that the already very weak German army had supplied goods to Ukraine for about 1 billion euros, but that the ministry had only ordered replacements for 50 million euros. Replacement of the other goods had not even been requested, even while funding was available.[32]
Other activities
- Academy of European Law (ERA), Ex-Officio Member of the Governing Board (2019–2021)[33]
- German Forum for Crime Prevention (DFK), Ex-Officio Chair of the Board of Trustees (2019–2021)[34]
- Magnus Hirschfeld Foundation, Ex-Officio Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees (2019–2021)[35]
- Humboldt Forum, Ex-Officio Member of the Supervisory Board (2018–2019)
- GIZ, Member of the Supervisory Board (2018–2019)[36]
- Jewish Museum Berlin, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2018).[37]
Personal life
Lambrecht has one son.
In 2022, Lambrecht was criticised for taking her son with her using an army helicopter, while she went for visiting troops and her son went on holiday. A political scandal broke out after he posted pictures of it on Instagram, even though this practice is not uncommon.[38]
References
- ^ "German Defence Minister Lambrecht announces resignation". Reuters. 16 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- ^ a b "German Defense Minister Lambrecht steps down after series of blunders". DW News. YouTube. 16 January 2023.
- ISSN 0174-4917. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ "Christine Lambrecht, MdB - Bundesfinanzministerium - Ministerium". Bundesministerium der Finanzen (in German). Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ "Deutscher Bundestag - Christine Lambrecht". Deutscher Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ "Parlamentarische Linke - Unsere Mitglieder". Parlamentarische Linke (in German). Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ISSN 0174-4917. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ Escritt, Thomas (2 July 2019). "Germany fines Facebook for under-reporting complaints". Reuters.
- ^ "Justizministerium: WhatsApp, Gmail & Co. sollen Passwörter herausgeben müssen". heise online (in German). 14 December 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- New York Times.
- ^ Zinke, Bernhard (5 September 2020). "Bundesjustizministerin Christine Lambrecht (SPD) tritt nicht mehr an". Mannheimer Morgen.
- ^ "Verteidigungsministerin Lambrecht hat Amt angetreten". sueddeutsche.de (in German). Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ "Lambrecht fordert höheren Wehretat" [Lambrecht demands a higher defense budget]. Die Zeit. 14 January 2022.
- ^ a b ""Kaum etwas bestellt": Munitionskrise bei der Bundeswehr" ["Hardly anything has been ordered, ammunition crisis in the German Army]. Süddeutsche Zeitung. 28 November 2022.
- ^ Ellyatt, Holly (27 January 2022). "'It's a joke': Germany's offer of 5,000 helmets to Ukraine is met with disdain amid Russia invasion fears". CNBC. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
- ^ a b Weimer, Wolfram (1 February 2022). "Person der Woche Lambrecht: Ministerin der 5000 Helme" [Person of the week Lambrecht: Minister of the 5,000 helmets]. NTV.
- ^ Siebold, Sabine; Sytas, Andrius (7 February 2022). "Germany to send up to 350 more troops to Lithuania". Reuters.
- ^ Siebold, Sabine; Rinke, Andreas (14 March 2022). "Germany to buy 35 Lockheed F-35 fighter jets from U.S. amid Ukraine crisis". Reuters.
- ^ Alkousaa, Riham (24 April 2022). "Germany to buy 60 heavy transport helicopters from Boeing, Bild am Sonntag reports". Reuters.
- ^ "Mykhailo Podolyak (19 March 2022)". Twitter. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
- ^ Becker, Markus (20 April 2022). "How the US outclasses the EU in helping Ukraine". Der Spiegel (in German).
- ^ "Deutschland liefert 2000 Panzerfäuste an die Ukraine". GER (in Norwegian). 3 March 2022.
- ^ "Weitere Waffen aus Deutschland in der Ukraine eingetroffen" (in German). Süddeutsche Zeitung. 24 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
- ^ "Germany: Bundeswehr arms deliveries to Ukraine 'reached a limit'". DW.COM. 4 September 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
- ^ Szymanska, Zuzanna; Hansen, Holger (30 May 2022). "Germany to change constitution to enable $110 billion defense fund". Reuters.
- ^ "Kyiv Post Morning Memo – Everything You Need to Know on Tuesday, Jan. 3". Kyiv Post. 3 January 2023.
- ^ "German Federal Minister of Defense visits Ukraine, promises quick delivery of air defense systems". 24 February 2022.
- ^ Siebold, Sabine (15 August 2022). "German fighter jets en route to Australia as Berlin shifts focus to Indo-Pacific". Reuters.
- ^ "Germany's defence minister poised to step down after series of errors". Financial Times. 14 January 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
- ^ "Pleiten, Pech und Pannen: Lambrechts Fehler, Lambrechts Fettnäpfchen". Der Spiegel. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
- ^ "Christine Lambrecht: German defence minister resigns after blunders". BBC News. 16 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- ^ Carstens, Peter (26 January 2023). "Bundeswehr bestellt Ukraine-Material kaum nach" [German Army orders almost nothing to replace materiel delivered to Ukraine]. FAZ (in German). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
- ^ Governing Board Academy of European Law (ERA).
- ^ Board of Trustees German Forum for Crime Prevention (DFK).
- ^ Board of Trustees Magnus Hirschfeld Foundation.
- ^ Members of the Supervisory Board GIZ.
- Jewish Museum Berlin.
- ^ "Helicopter flight revives attacks on German defense minister as key election looms". POLITICO. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
External links
- Media related to Christine Lambrecht at Wikimedia Commons