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The Ministry of Defense has a reputation for being ungovernable. Many have already failed here. Kramp-Karrenbauer took the job anyway. How is she?
An analysis by Stephan Stuchlik, ARD capital studio
“I will keep this job here, I enjoy it,” says the defense minister, and it sounds convincing. It’s February 2020, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has just announced her retirement as president of the CDU, she seems relieved. When asked if she also intends to resign as defense minister, she replied with a clear “no” at the Munich Security Conference.
Enjoying “Mission Impossible”?
But enjoying a job that many in Berlin consider “mission impossible”? Anyone observing Kramp-Karrenbauer visiting troops at home or abroad will at least notice that she seems more relaxed and natural in contact with soldiers than in many interviews. Then ask with your feet on the ground and interested. Of course, as a former interior minister for Saarland, she has a lot of routine in dealing with law enforcement officers, but she doesn’t seem posed. The impression that many soldiers take home is clearly different from that of her predecessor Ursula von der Leyen, whom many members of the troops still consider “media minister”.
Departing from the course of its predecessor
Already at the beginning of his ministerial position, Kramp-Karrenbauer reviewed some of the fundamental decisions of his friend of the party almost unnoticed: In October 2019, he withdrew the privatization of three main army repair logistics plants planned by his predecessor, a kind of big Bundeswehr repair shop. This went almost unnoticed by the public.
At the impromptu press conference, they also supported opposition politicians, who at the time were working in the commission of inquiry on the so-called consultative issue with privatization excesses under von der Leyen and his then Secretary of State Katrin Suder. In the Defense Committee, too, there was initially relief from the new Kramp-Karrenbauer line.
No more the “gold edge solution”
During his speech to employees of the Federal Armed Forces Procurement Office, observers wondered if Kramp-Karrenbauer was not doing too well by straying from the course of his predecessor. The procurement office, known by the Bundeswehr abbreviation BAAIN-BW, is seen by many as the weak point in terms of the many procurement mishaps between the troops: notoriously understaffed, often seems overwhelmed, too bureaucratic, too cumbersome and too slow.
After many attempts at reorganization, the minister wants to radiate calm and convey appreciation; However, it evidently evades the question of whether and how the office should be reformed. Much of what he criticized at the time is nothing more than a description of the obvious. She says, for example, that the Bundeswehr should not always order the “gold-edge solution.”
Breakdowns keep happening
A year later, he had to stop the award procedure for the new heavy lift helicopter, which had started in February 2019: the requirements for the manufacturers of the two competing American models, including the desire for German manufacturers to adapt and develop Plus the helicopters, they would became too expensive in the end.
The next breakdown: After it was announced in September 2020 that the new assault rifle, the successor to the controversial G36, would be manufactured by the Thuringian manufacturer Haenel and no longer by Heckler and Koch, the minister had to back down. Apparently outside legal counsel had drawn the ministry’s attention to the fact that if there was a patent dispute, Heckler and Koch would have a good chance of review and compensation. It remains a mystery why the Defense Department experts did not realize this beforehand.
Klüngel’s accusations remain
The fact that, despite the ministry’s refusals, allegations of a possible illegal price deal with Haenel continue to exist shows the environment in which procurement processes still take place in the Bundeswehr: no one wants to believe that the clique That has been with the arms industry for decades even if it had happened in the meantime. The fact that the FDP and the Greens have been accused of fixing prices in the Defense Committee also shows that the initial goodwill among specialist politicians has partially faded.
Minister causes irritation
At the company, Kramp-Karrenbauer hassled important employees with political advances. His October 2019 idea to establish a security zone in Syria under a UN mandate, including the deployment of German soldiers, happened without the prior involvement of experts, according to the Defense Ministry. The plan quickly disappeared from public discussion, it was simply not feasible.
His suggestion that the German deployment to Mali should be based more on the robust model of the French troops there, too, quickly disappeared into the drawer. By his own statement, Kramp-Karrenbauer wanted both advances to be understood as a call for greater German responsibility in the world, but there was also no major discussion on this issue as a result.
Neither the new reserve strategy nor the “Heimatschutz Voluntary Military Service”, a volunteer program of the German Armed Forces, will likely be counted as a countable plus on your account.
Operation “Iron Broom” against KSK
Kramp-Karrenbauer could go down in the annals sooner as the defense minister, who faced right-wing extremist activity in the Special Forces Command (KSK) with the necessary determination. After the ministry spoke up about the sometimes adventurous right-wing extremist activities in parts of the commando in Calw for decades, apparently a weapon and ammunition found on a commando soldier in May 2020 led the minister and inspector general to change of direction.
The idea that special forces trained with right-wing extremist views could use weapons and ammunition for attacks, for example, led Kramp-Karrenbauer to adopt a strict program. The most important components: dissolution of the 2nd company, end of self-directed training and changes in admission requirements. The entire process is still ongoing, but even the harshest critics credit the minister not only for showing goodwill, but because the measures are also sensible and appropriate.
In a broader sense, this also includes a leadership change in the MAD military intelligence service, which for years did not adequately investigate incidents of right-wing extremists in the KSK and, in individual cases, even sympathized with right-wing extremists.
And after the general elections?
According to current polls, the image of the Bundeswehr among the population is good and the 6,500 soldiers who are currently helping nationally in the Corona crisis can also contribute. The debate that the minister wanted about greater responsibility in the world may accelerate after the US elections. The Bundestag recently gave the green light to buy some of the new fighter jets.
It is difficult to predict whether Kramp-Karrenbauer will keep his post after the 2021 fall federal elections. At least at his home, at the ministry, he has already set up a crown quarantine in a small room in his Berlin office.
