Germany megathread

[Middle-aged Europe]

Word is out that Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) is about resign. I would welcome her exit, she's unfortunately not up to the job.

And Eva "terrorist attacks are so funny" Högl is reported to become her successor.

Another candidate has been mentioned to replace her: Siemtje Möller (SPD).



I don't know much about her, but it's good to see Christine "Fettnäpfchen" Lambrecht gone soon.

Both Möller and Högl would probably be more qualified to serve as defence minister anyway due to prior defence policy assignments during their tenures as MPs in the Bundestag. Möller is also currently serving as an undersecretary at the defence ministry.

The fact that Lambrecht became defence minister in 2021 in the first place instead of Möller or Högl can most likely be attributed to internal SPD party politics bullsh**t. Lambrecht had been justice minister in the final Merkel cabinet and giving her defence was a essentially a way of not demoting her by shuffling her to a ministry that happened to be available at the time. SPD had gotten defence and FDP had gotten justice under the 2021 coalition agreement, Lambrecht herself is in fact a lawyer and former long-time member of the judiciary committee though. Lambrecht's allegiance to the SPD's left wing had probably also played a role in her appointment - it was deemed necessary in order to give all internal SPD factions a sufficient number of government positions. While more qualified, Möller and Högl are members of more right-wing factions in the SPD.

Both Germany's and Ukraine's military had to suffer in the process.

[CumbrianLefty]

Word is out that Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) is about resign. I would welcome her exit, she's unfortunately not up to the job.

And Eva "terrorist attacks are so funny" Högl is reported to become her successor.

Would be interested to know the context of that comment.

[President Johnson]

Word is out that Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) is about resign. I would welcome her exit, she's unfortunately not up to the job.

And Eva "terrorist attacks are so funny" Högl is reported to become her successor.

Another candidate has been mentioned to replace her: Siemtje Möller (SPD).



I don't know much about her, but it's good to see Christine "Fettnäpfchen" Lambrecht gone soon.

Another rumor is that Hubertus Heil, who's widely respected as Labor Minister and a competent executive, would switch to defense while his current post is filled by woman.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Word is out that Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) is about resign. I would welcome her exit, she's unfortunately not up to the job.

And Eva "terrorist attacks are so funny" Högl is reported to become her successor.

Another candidate has been mentioned to replace her: Siemtje Möller (SPD).



I don't know much about her, but it's good to see Christine "Fettnäpfchen" Lambrecht gone soon.

Another rumor is that Hubertus Heil, who's widely respected as Labor Minister and a competent executive, would switch to defense while his current post is filled by woman.

The most far-reaching scenario presented so far is giving defence to the FDP and making Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann the new minister which is kinda the wet dream of all Ukraine hawks. The SPD would then get one of the current FDP ministries... transportation for instance, which would im turn be a wet dream for environmental activists.

Also the least likely scenario though, I guess.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

Word is out that Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) is about resign

aaaaaannnnnnnd she's gone

[CumbrianLefty]

Word is out that Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) is about resign

aaaaaannnnnnnd she's gone

So was her resignation statement along the lines of "I am a bit crap"?

[President Johnson]

The Traffic Light Coalition has submitted a proposal the reform election law and reduce the size of the Bundestag back to its normal at 598 members. The proposal eliminates all overhang and compensation seats. Seat allocation would again exclusively decided by the second vote (the one for a party). Should a party win more constituencies than the party result allows, those district winners with the weakest results wouldn't be seated.

I'm actually for the poposal (although I'd prefer a system like in France, ergo Westminster with runoffs), but of course CDU/CSU are firmly opposed because they tend to win more seats directly than the party vote would usually grant. So I guess it won't happen unfortunately. Still hope they somehow get this done. If you want to drain the swamp, don't ask the frogs.

[Middle-aged Europe]

The Traffic Light Coalition has submitted a proposal the reform election law and reduce the size of the Bundestag back to its normal at 598 members. The proposal eliminates all overhang and compensation seats. Seat allocation would again exclusively decided by the second vote (the one for a party). Should a party win more constituencies than the party result allows, those district winners with the weakest results wouldn't be seated.

I'm actually for the poposal (although I'd prefer a system like in France, ergo Westminster with runoffs), but of course CDU/CSU are firmly opposed because they tend to win more seats directly than the party vote would usually grant. So I guess it won't happen unfortunately. Still hope they somehow get this done. If you want to drain the swamp, don't ask the frogs.

As it is sometimes typical for the Bavarians, the CSU completely went off the deep end and called the proposal "unconstitutional", reminiscent of a "rogue state", and "organized election fraud". Markus Söder-Trump is apparently triggered.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Word is out that Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) is about resign

aaaaaannnnnnnd she's gone

So was her resignation statement along the lines of "I am a bit crap"?

No, I think it was something along the lines of "the media controversy around my person is creating a distraction from finding a solution for the challenges our military is facing".

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/1615083880825978891?s=20&t=JzBX8q2a...

[Middle-aged Europe]

Bundestag MPs Sepp Müller (CDU) and Wolfgang Stefinger (CSU) officially come out as the German parliament's first (conservative) gay couple:

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/panorama/sepp-mueller-wolfgang-stefinger-paar-1.5733475

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

Germany really needs to take lessons from the US on migrant integration.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Lower Saxony interior minister Boris Pistorius becomes new German defence minister.

A suprising pick, since he hadn't been among the names speculated for the post... at all. He also hasn't any prior experience in defence or foreign policy and federal politics so I hope that we don't make the same mistake thrice.

One wonders what spoke against Siemtje Möller, for instance... who is the former defence policy spokesperson of the SPD Bundestag caucus, a former member of the Bundestag defence committee, a former deputy member of the Bundestag foreign affairs committee, current undersecretary at the ministry of defence, a member of the board of the "German-Atlantic Society" (a NGO advocating support for and closer relations to NATO and its members), as well as a member of the Society for Security Policy and Women in International Security.

Looks a bit like internal SPD party politics bullsh**t again.

EDIT: Ah, I see... according to Wikipedia, Pistorius used to be a member of the "German-Russian Friendship Group" of the Bundesrat (Federal Council).

[CumbrianLefty]

Word is out that Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) is about resign

aaaaaannnnnnnd she's gone

So was her resignation statement along the lines of "I am a bit crap"?

No, I think it was something along the lines of "the media controversy around my person is creating a distraction from finding a solution for the challenges our military is facing".

So a longer winded version of "I'm crap" then

[Storr]

Lower Saxony interior minister Boris Pistorius becomes new German defence minister.

A suprising pick, since he hadn't been among the names speculated for the post... at all. He also hasn't any prior experience in defence or foreign policy and federal politics so I hope that we don't make the same mistake thrice.

One wonders what spoke against Siemtje Möller, for instance... who is the former defence policy spokesperson of the SPD Bundestag caucus, a former member of the Bundestag defence committee, a former deputy member of the Bundestag foreign affairs committee, current undersecretary at the ministry of defence, a member of the board of the "German-Atlantic Society" (a NGO advocating support for and closer relations to NATO and its members), as well as a member of the Society for Security Policy and Women in International Security.

Looks a bit like internal SPD party politics bullsh**t again.

EDIT: Ah, I see... according to Wikipedia, Pistorius used to be a member of the "German-Russian Friendship Group" of the Bundesrat (Federal Council).

This DW analyst puts a hopeful spin on Pistorius:

Though I'm not sure what "military and defense-relevant experience" she's referencing, based on his English and German (using google translate for the latter) wikipedia bios.

https://twitter.com/berlin_bridge/status/1615293052188528640?s=20&t=VQ5hpagP...

[Middle-aged Europe]

Lower Saxony interior minister Boris Pistorius becomes new German defence minister.

A suprising pick, since he hadn't been among the names speculated for the post... at all. He also hasn't any prior experience in defence or foreign policy and federal politics so I hope that we don't make the same mistake thrice.

One wonders what spoke against Siemtje Möller, for instance... who is the former defence policy spokesperson of the SPD Bundestag caucus, a former member of the Bundestag defence committee, a former deputy member of the Bundestag foreign affairs committee, current undersecretary at the ministry of defence, a member of the board of the "German-Atlantic Society" (a NGO advocating support for and closer relations to NATO and its members), as well as a member of the Society for Security Policy and Women in International Security.

Looks a bit like internal SPD party politics bullsh**t again.

EDIT: Ah, I see... according to Wikipedia, Pistorius used to be a member of the "German-Russian Friendship Group" of the Bundesrat (Federal Council).

This DW analyst puts a hopeful spin on Pistorius:

Though I'm not sure what "military and defense-relevant experience" she's referencing, based on his English and German (using google translate for the latter) wikipedia bios.

https://twitter.com/berlin_bridge/status/1615293052188528640?s=20&t=VQ5hpagP...

In the early 80s he did his mandatory military service back when we still had a conscription.

Or maybe it is supposed to be a reference that as interior minister he was responsible internal security and anti-terrorism activities in his state.

[Middle-aged Europe]

EDIT: Ah, I see... according to Wikipedia, Pistorius used to be a member of the "German-Russian Friendship Group" of the Bundesrat (Federal Council).

Back in 2018, Pistorius came out against the then-existing sanctions against Russia (because of the Crimea annexation and all):

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/international-hannover-pistorius-fordert-ueberpruefung-der-russland-sanktionen-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-180526-99-459106

[Lord Halifax]

EDIT: Ah, I see... according to Wikipedia, Pistorius used to be a member of the "German-Russian Friendship Group" of the Bundesrat (Federal Council).

[President Johnson]

I don't think Pistorius is a bad choice overall. He's at least someone who has proven his ability to run large government departments and get things done. This is what's currently needed the most at the Defense Ministry. Personally I would have preferred General Breuer, who previously ran the government's emergency committee on Covid.

I just hope he got enlightened on Russia and persues a tough stance. Scholz needs to be pushed in that direction. We'll see. He'll officially take over on Thursday, just hours before meeting with Lloyd Austin.

Of course some lefties within the party and among the Greens are mad at Scholz now for picking a man and therefore no longer having a 50/50 cabinet. FDP meanwhile seems very pleased with the decision. Lindner was among the first to congratulate in public and even Kubicki spoke well of him.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Of course some lefties within the party and among the Greens are mad at Scholz now for picking a man and therefore no longer having a 50/50 cabinet. FDP meanwhile seems very pleased with the decision. Lindner was among the first to congratulate in public and even Kubicki spoke well of him.

There's also the thing that at least three women (if we count the dark horse Strack-Zimmermann) with greater personal experience in matters of defence policy (or federal politics for that matter) had been mentioned for the post, leading to kind of a reversal of the usual argument against women's quota: Not the most qualified person was picked for the position today, but the male one.

The lack of proper qualification in Pistorius' case was in fact brought up today by the CDU and I don't disagree with the assessment (although it was to be expected that the opposition wouldn't actually praise the pick).

As for the "he knows how to run a ministry" argument... that originally applied to Lambrecht too. Or Kramp-Karrenbauer for that matter.

[JimJamUK]

The Traffic Light Coalition has submitted a proposal the reform election law and reduce the size of the Bundestag back to its normal at 598 members. The proposal eliminates all overhang and compensation seats. Seat allocation would again exclusively decided by the second vote (the one for a party). Should a party win more constituencies than the party result allows, those district winners with the weakest results wouldn't be seated.

I'm actually for the poposal (although I'd prefer a system like in France, ergo Westminster with runoffs), but of course CDU/CSU are firmly opposed because they tend to win more seats directly than the party vote would usually grant. So I guess it won't happen unfortunately. Still hope they somehow get this done. If you want to drain the swamp, don't ask the frogs.

So some constituencies could end up without an MP? That’s seems hard to justify. If you want to ensure proportionality then just reduce the number of constituencies so that there’s enough lists seats to compensate.

[Middle-aged Europe]

The Traffic Light Coalition has submitted a proposal the reform election law and reduce the size of the Bundestag back to its normal at 598 members. The proposal eliminates all overhang and compensation seats. Seat allocation would again exclusively decided by the second vote (the one for a party). Should a party win more constituencies than the party result allows, those district winners with the weakest results wouldn't be seated.

I'm actually for the poposal (although I'd prefer a system like in France, ergo Westminster with runoffs), but of course CDU/CSU are firmly opposed because they tend to win more seats directly than the party vote would usually grant. So I guess it won't happen unfortunately. Still hope they somehow get this done. If you want to drain the swamp, don't ask the frogs.

So some constituencies could end up without an MP? That’s seems hard to justify. If you want to ensure proportionality then just reduce the number of constituencies so that there’s enough lists seats to compensate.

This also happens to be the opinion in today's commentary of public broadcaster ARD on the issue:

https://www.tagesschau.de/kommentar/ampel-entwurf-wahlrechtsreform-kommentar-101.html

[Middle-aged Europe]

I do lament a bit that Strack-Zimmermann didn't become defence minister, how unrealistic that might have been. I'm actually a bit ignorant as to what her stances outside of defence- and foreign policy-related matters are (if they're standard FDP stances on social welfare or environment, I wouldn't like them), but I did like that she was a thorn in Scholz' side on Ukraine. I also had the impression that she would have been good at running a ministry. Unlike Lambrecht, where it was painfully obvious that she is out of her depth in almost every interview that she had given, Strack-Zimmermann has a certain authoritave, matriarchal-aristocratic gravitas to her, where the picture is believable that she's giving orders to soldiers.

[President Johnson]

The Traffic Light Coalition has submitted a proposal the reform election law and reduce the size of the Bundestag back to its normal at 598 members. The proposal eliminates all overhang and compensation seats. Seat allocation would again exclusively decided by the second vote (the one for a party). Should a party win more constituencies than the party result allows, those district winners with the weakest results wouldn't be seated.

I'm actually for the poposal (although I'd prefer a system like in France, ergo Westminster with runoffs), but of course CDU/CSU are firmly opposed because they tend to win more seats directly than the party vote would usually grant. So I guess it won't happen unfortunately. Still hope they somehow get this done. If you want to drain the swamp, don't ask the frogs.

So some constituencies could end up without an MP? That’s seems hard to justify. If you want to ensure proportionality then just reduce the number of constituencies so that there’s enough lists seats to compensate.

Theoretically, yes. However, that's relatively unlikely in the end. Today, most districts even have multiple MPs from different parties. My constituency (Böblingen) has five (CDU, SPD, Greens, AfD and FDP).

[Storr]

A neat "slice of life" article I stumbled upon about Zittau, a town in Saxony located next to the tripoint of Germany, Poland, and Czechia, which touches on how things have changed for the better once the Iron Curtain fell and the latter two countries joined the Schengen Area in 2007:

https://mailchi.mp/19789bf4d7e7/twilight-borders