German Chancellor Angela Merkel's favoured successor and the head of her CDU party will become the country's next defence minister, an official statement said Tuesday, after Ursula von der Leyen was elected European Commission president.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, best known to Germans as "AKK", will be appointed on Wednesday during a handover in Berlin with her predecessor von der Leyen and the first vice president of the Bundesrat upper house, which confirmed the news in a statement.

Von der Leyen, who had served as defence minister since 2013, will step down to become the first woman to hold the EU's top job after MEPs narrowly backed her in a Tuesday vote.

Before Kramp-Karrenbauer, who is widely seen as the chancellor's chosen heir, was announced as the new minister, Merkel had said there would be a "very fast replacement".

"The defence ministry, the defence minister, hold command and military authority. We cannot leave this post empty for long," she said.

It will be the first ministerial post for Kramp-Karrenbauer, who was born in Saarland, near the French border, and has become a leading figure in German politics.

Sometimes called "mini-Merkel", she has been poised to take over as chancellor since becoming CDU chief in December after Merkel announced she would not seek another term when her current one ends in 2021.

However the 56-year-old's appointment to the difficult post on Tuesday evening came as a surprise to some, after she came under strong criticism for the CDU's poor results in May's European Parliament election.

Related Links
The Military Industrial Complex at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Pentagon gets 3rd acting chief since Mattis -- temporarily
Washington (AFP) July 15, 2019
US President Donald Trump's administration named its third acting defense secretary in seven months on Monday, underscoring the lack of permanent leadership at the Pentagon since James Mattis quit. Owing to complex bureaucratic rules, the acting defense secretary of the past four weeks, Mark Esper, was forced to step down as Trump submitted his formal nomination for the permanent job to Congress. While his nomination is under consideration in the Senate, Esper will fall back to his former job as ... read more