Defence minister christine lambrecht has resigned following a series of blunders and pr disasters. berlin is under rising pressure to allow the delivery of german-built battle tanks to ukraine. ms lambrecht was mocked for her announcement that germany was supporting ukraine by sending 5,000 military helmets, and was widely criticised for failing to improve germany’s notoriously ill-equipped armed forces.
Resignation and pressure to deliver tanks to ukraine occurred on friday when ms lambrecht was due to meet other defence ministers from ukraine’s western allies at the american military base in rammstein. in her resignation statement, ms lambrecht said that months of media focus on her did not allow for fact-based reporting and discussion about soldiers, the army and security policy in the interest of german citizens.
German government is facing renewed calls to approve the delivery of german-built leopard 2 tanks. the blunders and pr disasters occurred when ms lambrecht took her son on a trip in a military helicopter and posted an awkward video on new year’s eve which triggered widespread contempt and undermined her support within political circles. additionally, â¬100bn (â£88bn) was provided for the task of improving germany’s armed forces following russia’s invasion of ukraine, however ms lambrecht failed to improve the armed forces. this ultimately led to her resignation, as she was unable to fulfil the expectations of the german government.
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