German Chancellor Merkel nominates Defense Minister after Guttenberg's resignation

German Chancellor Merkel nominates Defense Minister after Guttenberg's resignation

2011-03-03 00:28:57 GMT+7 (ICT)

BERLIN, GERMANY (BNO NEWS) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday announced that she nominated a new Defense Minister after the resignation of former minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.

According to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Merkel confirmed her nominations for Defense Minister and Interior Minister after a minor re-shuffle in the German cabinet due to Guttenberg's dismissal over a plagiarism scandal.

"I told the German president that I recommend Interior Minister, Thomas de Maiziere, for the Defense Ministry, and Hans-Peter Friedrich as new Interior Minister," Merkel told reporters at a press conference in Berlin.

Merkel added that it is expected that President Christian Wulff will announce the official nomination the two ministers on Thursday morning. The chancellor said she is looking forward to working with both politicians.

De Maiziere, 57, has been one of Merkel's closest political allies in the last two decades. The two politicians met during the peaceful revolution in the German Democratic Republic in 1989/1990.

In 2009, De Maiziere was appointed as Interior Minister. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and is cousin of Lothar de Maiziere, the first freely elected leader of former East Germany.

Friedrich, 53, is a trusted ally of the Chancellor since the 1990s. He will replace De Maiziere as Interior Minister. During Merkel's time as CDU chairwoman, Friedrich was the legal adviser for the party.

On Tuesday, Guttenberg resigned as Defense Minister after being involved in a plagiarism scandal over his PhD thesis. He decided to resign as he considered the media focus on him and his doctorate diverted attention away from his role, especially from the German soldiers fighting in Afghanistan.

Guttenberg was seen as the potential successor of Chancellor Merkel. However, after revelations surfaced indicating that he plagiarized large parts of his doctoral thesis in 2006, the 39-year-old minister was under intense political pressure despite being Germany's most popular politician.

The former Defense Minister initially rejected plagiarism claims and only acknowledged that his thesis had footnotes mistakes. The University of Bayreuth later stripped him from his degree and opposition social democrats said Guttenberg can no longer be trusted.

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