New German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is being criticized by the opposition due to his past association with the German-Russia parliamentary friendship society. CDU member Tilman Kuban said, “The next one from the Russia connection takes his place in the federal cabinet. Boris Pistorius must now make clear the new beginning in Ukraine policy and leave behind his formerly openly pro-Kremlin line.”
As Dow Jones reported, Pistorius has defended his statements about Russia from 2018. At the time, he had questioned the sanctions in Süddeutsche Zeitung, asking “whether the instruments are the right ones.” Interviewed by Bild, Pistorius now said, “I did not criticize the sanctions themselves or their goal, but like many others questioned their effectiveness. Today’s sanctions cannot be compared to the sanctions of that time, and they do have an effect, as we know.”
According to Bild, Pistorius won’t be manipulable like his predecessor Christine Lambrecht. “At a lunch with the defense politicians of his own coalition, Lambrecht talked up and down for an hour about why the Bundeswehr could under no circumstances supply Gepard tanks [to Kiev]. Twelve hours later, the Chancellor’s office then made the tank turnaround public. And Lambrecht went along without complaint and suddenly declared the opposite.
