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		</div><p>German defence minister Christine Lambrecht has resigned following persistent criticism of her handling of military modernisation programmes and the country’s arms deliveries to Ukraine.</p>
<p>Ms Lambrecht said she had submitted her resignation request to German chancellor Olaf Scholz, saying that “months of media focus on my person” had stood in the way of a factual debate about the military and Germany’s security policy.</p>
<p>“The valuable work of the soldiers and many people in my department must stand in the foreground,” she said.</p>
<p>There was no immediate word on Ms Lambrecht’s possible replacement.</p>
<p>The 57-year-old has been defence minister since Mr Scholz became chancellor in December 2021.</p>
<p>Critics have long portrayed her as being out of her depth, but Mr Scholz stood by her, describing her last month as “a first-class defence minister”.</p>
<p>Pressure on her mounted recently after an ill-judged New Year video message.</p>
<p>Ms Lambrecht’s resignation comes at a sensitive moment, as Mr Scholz faces mounting pressure to make another significant step forward in German military aid to Ukraine by agreeing to deliver Leopard 2 battle tanks.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, Germany agreed to provide 40 Marder armoured personnel carriers and a Patriot air defence missile battery to Kyiv.</p>
<p>Germany has given Ukraine substantial support in recent months, including howitzers, Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and the first of four IRIS-T surface-to-air missile systems. But critics, some inside Germany’s governing coalition, have long complained of Mr Scholz’s perceived hesitancy to step up aid.</p>
<p>Ms Lambrecht was overshadowed on the issue by the chancellor, who made most major announcements.</p>
<p>She was then-finance minister Mr Scholz’s deputy before being appointed justice minister in 2019. She also was minister for families and women in the closing months of then-chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.</p>
<p>She was respected in those roles but was widely viewed as one of the Mr Scholz government’s weakest links at the defence ministry.</p>
<p>The notoriously unwieldy department has a history of diminishing ministers’ reputations.</p>
<p>Its importance increased with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That prompted Scholz to announce a special €100 billion fund to upgrade the German military, the Bundeswehr, which has suffered for years from neglect and in particular from aging, poorly functioning equipment.</p>
<p>Last month, Ms Lambrecht dismissed suggestions that the government had been too slow to get going on its spending drive.</p>
<p>She said officials have moved fast but that “such projects must be carefully negotiated – this is tax money”.</p>
<p>The minister also drew criticism for hapless communication, starting with a January 2022 announcement that Germany would deliver 5,000 military helmets to Ukraine as “a very clear signal that we stand by your side”.</p>
<p>In April, she took her 21-year-old son along on a military helicopter flight, which became public when he posted a photo to Instagram that it turned out the minister had taken herself.</p>
<p>Her ministry said she had applied for permission and paid the costs herself, but critics said it showed poor judgment.</p>
<p>An amateurish New Year’s video message on her own private Instagram account prompted new opposition calls for Ms Lambrecht’s departure and strained political allies’ patience.</p>
<p>It showed a barely audible Ms Lambrecht speaking against a backdrop of loud New Year’s Eve fireworks in a Berlin street.</p>
<p>“A war is raging in the middle of Europe,” she said. “And connected with that for me were a lot of special impressions that I was able to gain — many, many meetings with interesting, great people.”</p>
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