Kai-Achim Schönbach, who called Crimea the Russian Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy, was dismissed
Kai-Achim Schönbach, commander of the German Navy, who called Crimea Russian, resigned, German Defense Minister Christina Lambrecht accepted the corresponding petition. This is reported by the German press.
The vice-admiral submitted his resignation letter the day before, after his statement that Crimea would never return to Ukraine. In addition, Schönbach called nonsense talk about the allegedly impending invasion of the Russian army into the territory of a neighboring state, calling on Germany and other countries to cooperate more closely with Russia in confronting China. He said all this during a conference of the Institute of Defense Studies Manohara Parrikara in India, discussing the situation around Ukraine.
Schönbach's statement caused a wave of criticism both from the German Ministry of Defense, which immediately distanced itself from the Vice Admiral, and from the German Foreign Ministry. Defense Minister Christina Lambrecht held urgent consultations with Inspector General of the Armed Forces of Germany Eberhard Zorn and a public relations consultant, after which a statement was made that this was the vice admiral's personal opinion, which did not reflect the position of the military department. In addition, Schönbach was summoned to the Ministry for an "explanatory conversation."
The Commander-in-Chief of the Navy himself, without waiting for the scolding in the Ministry of Defense, wrote a resignation letter, saying that he was doing this in order to avoid "further damage" to the German the fleet, army and Germany as a whole. At the same time, he admitted that he should not have made statements about Crimea, and everything he said was a mistake. The Ministry of Defense of Germany accepted the resignation and now Schönbach is going to retire with the prefix "ex" - the former commander-in-chief of the German Navy.
It should be noted that Schönbach's statement about the Russian Crimea aroused indignation in Kiev, which painfully perceives all statements of this kind. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has already demanded clarification from the German government.
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