25 Jan 2023Ukraine
Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine
The federal government approves the delivery of 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks from Bundeswehr stocks and allows allies to re-export theirs.
Federal Republic of Germany · Ministry of Defence
Boris Pistorius
Federal Minister of Defence of Germany
A lawyer from Osnabrück who spent three decades in municipal and state government before taking charge of the Federal Ministry of Defence in January 2023, at the moment Germany was rebuilding its armed forces in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
- Born
- 14 March 1960Osnabrück, Lower Saxony
- Party
- SPDMember since 1976
- Office
- Defence MinisterSince 19 January 2023
- Bundestag
- Hannover IIDirectly elected in 2025
- Previously
- 2013–2023Interior Minister of Lower Saxony
01 Introduction
An administrator’s career, tested by a war in Europe
Boris Ludwig Pistorius was born in Osnabrück on 14 March 1960, joined the Social Democratic Party at sixteen and built his career in the practical work of local and regional government: as an official in the Lower Saxony interior ministry, as Lord Mayor of his home city from 2006, and for ten years as Lower Saxony’s Minister for the Interior and Sport.
On 19 January 2023 he was sworn in as Federal Minister of Defence, succeeding Christine Lambrecht. He was not widely known outside his home state. Within months he was regularly ranked among Germany’s most popular politicians, and in May 2025 he became the only minister of Olaf Scholz’s government to keep his post in the new cabinet of Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
His tenure coincides with the most far-reaching change in German security policy since the end of the Cold War: record defence budgets, a new military service law, a permanently stationed brigade in Lithuania and sustained military support for Ukraine. This archive documents that record, including the criticism and the disputes.
02 Political career
From Lower Saxony to federal defence
Pistorius rose through the SPD the long way: city council, mayor’s office, state cabinet, party executive, and only then Berlin. Each stage added a different kind of executive experience: running a city administration, commanding a state police force, and finally leading the armed forces.
1996–2013
Osnabrück
City councillor, then Lord Mayor
Elected Lord Mayor in a September 2006 run-off with about 55 per cent of the vote; in office from November 2006 until February 2013.
Lower Saxony years2013–2023
Hanover
State Minister for the Interior and Sport
Served in all three cabinets of Minister-President Stephan Weil, responsible for police, internal security, disaster management and sport.
Political career2023–today
Berlin
Federal Minister of Defence
Appointed under Chancellor Olaf Scholz in January 2023 and reappointed under Chancellor Friedrich Merz on 6 May 2025.
Federal politics03 Minister of Defence
Command of the armed forces in peacetime
Under Article 65a of the Basic Law, the Federal Minister of Defence holds command over the Bundeswehr in peacetime. The minister is answerable to the Bundestag, which approves armed deployments and the defence budget. Pistorius took office with a mandate to turn the 2022 “Zeitenwende” into ready forces.
€100bn
Special fund for the Bundeswehr, approved by the Bundestag in June 2022, before his appointment
Bundeswehr special fund
€82.7bn
Regular defence budget for 2026, plus roughly €25.5 billion from the special fund
Federal budget 2026
5%
NATO target agreed at The Hague in June 2025: 3.5% of GDP on core defence plus 1.5% on related spending by 2035
NATO summit, June 2025
~5,000
Soldiers and civilian staff planned for Panzerbrigade 45, Germany’s first permanently stationed brigade abroad, in Lithuania
Bundeswehr, 2025
04 Defence transformation
After the Zeitenwende: from announcement to capability
When Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared a Zeitenwende, a turning point. Within months the Bundestag created a €100 billion special fund and committed Germany to NATO’s two-per-cent spending benchmark. The procurement system, the personnel pipeline and the force structure, however, were still those of an army built for overseas crisis missions.
Pistorius has framed his task as making the Bundeswehr kriegstüchtig, ready to fight a defensive war so that it never has to. That meant new Defence Policy Guidelines in November 2023, a new command structure in 2024, an exemption of defence spending from the constitutional debt brake in March 2025, and a new military service law in force since 1 January 2026.
05 Security & Europe
Ukraine, NATO and the European security order
Ukraine and European security
Germany became Ukraine’s largest European military supporter
Six days after he took office, the government approved Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine, and delivering them fell to his ministry. Since February 2025 he has co-chaired the Ukraine Defence Contact Group with the United Kingdom’s defence secretary, John Healey. The 2026 federal budget allocates €11.5 billion for military aid to Ukraine.
The Ukraine record NATO and allied relationsGermany’s place on the eastern flank
A permanent armoured brigade in Lithuania, air defence for allies, and a defence relationship with Washington in transition.
NATO & Europe International securityRussia, hybrid threats and the Indo-Pacific
How Pistorius describes the threat picture, from a possible Russian attack on NATO within years to disinformation and sabotage.
International security International engagementPartnerships from Vilnius to New Delhi
Visits, defence agreements and security conferences, including India, the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore.
International engagement
06 Bundeswehr modernisation
Personnel, procurement and readiness
The modernisation agenda has three hard constraints: people, equipment and time. The Bundeswehr is to grow from roughly 180,000 active soldiers to between 255,000 and 270,000 by 2035, with a much larger reserve. Major purchases include F-35 fighters, the Arrow 3 missile shield, declared initially operational in December 2025, and a first drone regiment announced in October 2026.
Critics, including the parliamentary armed forces commissioner and opposition parties, have repeatedly argued that procurement remains too slow and that money alone does not produce readiness.
07 Major decisions
Decisions that defined the tenure
A selection in chronological order. Each entry is examined in detail, with context and criticism, on the Major Decisions page.
26 Jun 2023NATO
A brigade for Lithuania
In Vilnius, Pistorius announces Germany’s readiness to station a combat brigade permanently in Lithuania. Panzerbrigade 45 is formally established on 1 April 2025.
30 Apr 2024Structure
The Osnabrück Decree
A new top-level structure for the Bundeswehr, with a single Operational Command and cyber and information space as a fourth branch of service.
5 Dec 2025Personnel
New military service law
The Bundestag passes the military service modernisation act. Service stays voluntary, but questionnaires and medical screening for young men become mandatory from 2026.
08 Speeches & statements
In his own words
Short, verified quotations with date and occasion. English renderings of German remarks are marked as translations.
Wir müssen kriegstüchtig werden.
It is part of an information war that Putin is waging.
… that is not acceptable.
09 Criticism & controversy
A popular minister, a contested agenda
Pistorius’s approval ratings have been unusually high for a defence minister, but his choice of words, his budgets and his military service plans have all drawn sustained criticism, including from within his own party.
What supporters point to
- Plain, direct communication about the threat from Russia
- Record defence budgets and a permanent NATO brigade in Lithuania
- A military service model that passed parliament after years of debate
- Continuity across two governments of different composition
What critics argue
- “Kriegstüchtig” was seen by some, including SPD members, as militarising public language
- Procurement remains slow, and money has outpaced delivery
- The 2024 Luftwaffe leak exposed weaknesses in secure communications
- His handling of the military service compromise in October 2025 strained the coalition
10 Legacy
How the record may be judged
His tenure is ongoing. Any assessment is provisional, and this archive treats it that way.
Read the assessment