Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 18 (Xinhua) German Chancellor Scholz confirmed on the 17th that Boris Pistorius will serve as defense minister, succeeding Christina Lambrecht who resigned the day before.

　　Against the backdrop of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and pressure from Western allies on Germany to provide Ukraine with the Leopard main battle tank, Pistorius faces challenges in assuming his new post.

right person

　　Scholz announced on the 17th that the Minister of the Interior of Lower Saxony, Pistorius, will serve as the Minister of Defense. He is the "right person" to take charge of this key department.

　　Scholz said Pistorius was a "very distinguished statesman" with extensive administrative experience who had been involved in shaping security policy for many years.

"He has the ability, courage and grace to be the right man to lead the military through this time of change."

　　Deutsche News Agency and other media reported that the appointment was "surprising", and Pistorius was not the frontrunner among the candidates for this position.

In the federal cabinet, the post of defense minister was "not easy to do", which ended the political careers of many people.

Still, Pistorius is 62 years old, so that might not be a problem for him.

　　Pistorius had a legal background and worked as a lawyer before entering politics in the 1990s.

He once served as the mayor of Osnabrück in Lower Saxony, and has served as the Minister of the Interior since 2013. He belongs to the same Social Democratic Party as Scholz.

　　Before Lambrecht resigned on the 16th, the 16 ministers in the Scholz cabinet were "8 men and 8 women", and the appointment of Pistorius, the male defense minister, will break the gender balance of the cabinet.

It is unclear whether Scholz will continue to maintain "gender equality" in the cabinet as promised during the 2021 election.

　　German Deputy Chancellor and Minister of Economy and Climate Protection Robert Habeck, co-chairman of the Green Party, said earlier on the 17th that he hoped that Scholz would fulfill his promise.

　　The Social Democratic Party, the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats will reach a joint cabinet agreement in December 2021.

Coping with problems

　　German government spokesman Steffen Hebeschreiter said Pistorius was due to be sworn in on the 19th.

　　Deutsche News Agency reported that Pistorius will deal with the sensitive issue of providing military aid to Ukraine as soon as he takes office, and will also promote the modernization and upgrading of German weapons and equipment.

　　After Russia launched a special military operation against Ukraine in February last year, Scholz announced the establishment of a special defense fund of 100 billion euros for the modernization and upgrading of German weapons and equipment.

This plan failed to advance smoothly during Lambrecht's tenure as defense minister, and now it falls on the shoulders of Pistorius.

　　The British government announced on the 14th that it will provide Ukraine with 14 British-made "Challenger 2" main battle tanks and other weapons within a few weeks.

Agence France-Presse and other media reported that Britain was the first country to provide Western-made main battle tanks to Ukraine.

　　The Scholz government is weighing whether to provide Ukraine with German-made "Leopard" tanks, and German political circles are still divided on whether to provide Ukraine with this heavy weapon.

Scholz believes that Germany should not provide Ukraine with heavy weapons alone, and he will consult with its NATO allies.

However, Ukraine and some Western allies have recently put pressure on Germany in this regard.

　　Polish President Andrzej Duda attended a discussion at the World Economic Forum on the 17th and said: "We hope and are striving to win more support for Ukraine. We hope that some partners and allies will provide Ukraine with tanks."

　　Duda said on the 11th that Poland intends to provide Ukraine with "Leopard" main battle tanks.

However, the "Leopard" tank is manufactured by Germany, and the Polish side needs to obtain the consent of the German side before it can be delivered to the Ukrainian side.

(Bao Xuelin)

　　(Source: Xinhuanet)