German Defense Crisis Puts Potential Merkel Successor in Hot Seat
BERILIN (Reuters) - Ursula von der Leyen, whose ambitions of succeeding Angela Merkel are too transparent for German taste, is finding out the hard way why her job as defense minister is considered the most dangerous in the cabinet, nicknamed the ‘ejector seat’.
News that Germany’s military hardware is in such a state of disrepair that it is struggling to meet NATO commitments or keep a promise to arm Iraqi Kurds against Islamic State has put the minister in the firing line.
Dubbed "the War Minister” by a magazine for wanting to put military muscle behind Germany’s growing presence in geo-political affairs, von der Leyen is one of the only contenders to succeed the popular Merkel as conservative leader.
But the defense equipment scandal, which erupted last week, is an unmitigated embarrassment for Germany which could put an end to such ambitions.
Meanwhile, the satirists and headline-writers are having a field day.
Many German tanks "are only held together by von der Leyen’s hairspray”, said one TV show after the forces acknowledged that only 70 of their 180 Boxer armored fighting vehicles, seven of 43 navy helicopters or 42 of 109 air force Eurofighters and 38 of 89 Tornado fighters were operational. The list goes on.
As well as casting doubt on commitments on air defense for NATO allies in the Baltics if the Ukraine crisis escalates, it coincided with a spate of breakdowns of military planes taking weapons to Iraq and aid to African states hit by Ebola.
News that Germany’s military hardware is in such a state of disrepair that it is struggling to meet NATO commitments or keep a promise to arm Iraqi Kurds against Islamic State has put the minister in the firing line.
Dubbed "the War Minister” by a magazine for wanting to put military muscle behind Germany’s growing presence in geo-political affairs, von der Leyen is one of the only contenders to succeed the popular Merkel as conservative leader.
But the defense equipment scandal, which erupted last week, is an unmitigated embarrassment for Germany which could put an end to such ambitions.
Meanwhile, the satirists and headline-writers are having a field day.
Many German tanks "are only held together by von der Leyen’s hairspray”, said one TV show after the forces acknowledged that only 70 of their 180 Boxer armored fighting vehicles, seven of 43 navy helicopters or 42 of 109 air force Eurofighters and 38 of 89 Tornado fighters were operational. The list goes on.
As well as casting doubt on commitments on air defense for NATO allies in the Baltics if the Ukraine crisis escalates, it coincided with a spate of breakdowns of military planes taking weapons to Iraq and aid to African states hit by Ebola.