After being criticised for a New Year’s Day message posted on social media, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht resigned from her post on Monday. In the outdoor video, Lambrecht talked about the pleasant personal encounters she had enjoyed during the war in Ukraine, as fireworks take place behind her in Berlin.
Lambrecht's New Year's address failed to "hit the right tone" and made the war sound like an "exciting professional experience", the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel wrote.
"What kind of a year was 2022? It faced us with many incredible challenges. There is a war raging in the middle of Europe. Associated with this were for me many special impressions, many encounters with interesting, great people," Lambrecht said in the video posted on Instagram.
The Opposition condemned the message as inappropriate in the context of Russia’s nearly year-long war.
This is not the first time that Lambrecht has been in the line of fire. She has been previously mocked for her response to the war in Ukraine.
Last year, Lambrecht invited criticism for Germany’s offer to supply Ukraine with 5,000 helmets, at a time when Kyiv was calling for heavy weapons to defend itself against Russian forces, reported Reuters.
She was also mocked for failing to improve Germany's armed forces despite a 100 billion euro special fund being agreed for that purpose after Russia invaded Ukraine, according to the news agency.
Lambrecht, a member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats has also been criticised for taking her son on a trip in a military helicopter.
"Today I asked the chancellor to dismiss me from the office of federal minister of defence," Lambrecht said in a statement while tendering her resignation on Monday.