German Defense Minister Lambrecht Quits in Blow to Scholz

(Bloomberg) -- German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht stepped down following a series of missteps and days of speculation over her future, a blow to Chancellor Olaf

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Recession, Says BofA’s Subramanian Lambrecht asked to be relieved of her cabinet post, blaming intense media reporting as an unacceptable distraction, and Scholz accepted the

request and respects the decision, the government said Monday. The German leader will propose a replacement for his fellow Social Democrat “promptly,” though that’s unlikely

to happen before Tuesday, Christiane Hoffmann, a deputy Scholz spokeswoman, said at the regular government news conference in Berlin. Lambrecht will remain in office until a

successor is appointed by the federal president, Hoffmann added. Among the potential candidates are SPD defense expert Eva Hoegl, Scholz’s chancellery chief of staff

Wolfgang Schmidt and Labor Minister Hubertus Heil. SPD co-leaders Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil have also been named, as well as former SPD leader Andrea Nahles, who currently

heads the federal labor office. The 57-year-old Lambrecht, a trained lawyer, came under close scrutiny over a perceived lack of military expertise, with the criticism

intensifying after a poorly executed New Year’s Eve video that seemed to make light of Russia’s war on Ukraine.