German minister criticized for giving his son a ‘hitchhiker’ in an army helicopter

According to Business Insider, Minister Christine Lambrecht and her 21-year-old son Alexander Lambrecht moved to the island of Sylt in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein by helicopter of the armed forces during the Easter holiday in mid-May. last 4. Alexander later posted a photo of the flight on Instagram.

Mrs Lambrecht had previously used the helicopter to visit troops stationed in Schleswig-Holstein, before sending her son on board to fly to Sylt Island for the holiday. The German Defense Ministry later confirmed the two were traveling together on a Cougar helicopter belonging to the German armed forces, but denied it was a personal flight.

A spokeswoman for the German defense ministry said that Ms Lambrecht had not broken any rules by bringing a family member on board the helicopter, adding that the minister had paid 100% of the cost of the flight. . According to estimates by Business Insider, each such flight costs more than 5,000 Euro / hour.

However, the move still drew heavy criticism from the German defense minister, especially from opposition politicians. Thorsten Frei, First Secretary of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) in the German Parliament, accused Ms Lambrecht of abusing the German military for purposes personal and partisan.

“The defense minister should be smarter and not confuse the Luftwaffe (German air force) with Lufthansa (a German civil airline),” Thorsten Frei told Bild newspaper.

Congressman Reinhard Brandl, a defense policy spokesman for the CSU, said Ms Lambrecht’s holiday was inappropriate, especially in the context of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. “It is unacceptable for her son to brag on Instagram when he was allowed to fly in a government helicopter to Sylt,” Mr Brandl said.

The incident comes at a supposedly difficult time, Minister Lambrecht, who has been criticized in recent weeks for being hesitant to give military aid to Ukraine. The Kiev government said that the amount of weapons and equipment it received from Germany was still too small.

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