Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) took the much-discussed photo of her son in the Bundeswehr helicopter herself. A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defense confirmed this when asked on Wednesday. “Image” had previously reported about it.
In mid-April, Lambrecht took her 21-year-old son with him on a government helicopter flight to visit troops in northern Germany. The next day we went on vacation to Sylt by car. The flight became public because Lambrecht’s son had posted a photo of himself in the helicopter on Instagram. According to her ministry, the minister had duly applied for her son to fly with her and assumed the full costs.
After a decision by the North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Administrative Court (OVG), which became known on Tuesday, the Federal Ministry of Defense must now give a complaining journalist information about the details of the creation and publication of the photo. The Higher Administrative Court had confirmed an earlier decision by the Cologne Administrative Court.
The journalist wanted to know how much time passed between booking the hotel on Sylt and scheduling the visit to the troops. He also wanted to know what knowledge Lambrecht had about the taking of the photo and its publication, in particular whether she had taken the photo of her son in the helicopter herself. Lambrecht had rejected this on the grounds that it affected them as a private person.
On the question of booking a hotel, the court in Cologne had agreed with the politician. That is her private matter. But things are different when it comes to questions about the creation and publication of the photo. Since the journey was made by helicopter, there is an official connection to the Bundeswehr.
When asked on Wednesday whether the publication of photos from the inside of a Bundeswehr helicopter was covered by the applicable regulations, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense referred to the Ministry’s response to a parliamentary question already given in May. In it, Defense State Secretary Siemtje Möller replied: “The admissibility of taking photographs of and in Bundeswehr aircraft must always be assessed on a case-by-case basis. What matters is whether images reveal sensitive information that could endanger military security.”
“Kick-off Politics” is WELT’s daily news podcast. The most important topic analyzed by WELT editors and the dates of the day. Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music or directly via RSS feed.