BERLIN
\nFilmed on the streets of Berlin amid chaotic New Year\u2019s celebrations a video address from the German defense minister posted on social media drew criticism Monday for its tone-deaf message.
\nBarely audible above the sound of exploding fireworks, Christine Lambrecht reflected on a year ending with \u201cwar raging in the middle of Europe.\u201d
\nThe conflict in Ukraine had led to \u201ca lot of special experiences\u201d and the chance for \u201cmany encounters with great and interesting people,\u201d Lambrecht said in the clip posted on her personal Instagram account.
\nLambrecht\u2019s New Year\u2019s address failed to \u201chit the right tone\u201d and made the war sound like an \u201cexciting professional experience,\u201d the Tagesspiegel daily wrote.
\nThe minute-long message, filmed on a mobile phone, \u201cshamed\u201d Germany, the Bild daily said.
\nLambrecht, a member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz\u2019s Social Democrats, has faced strong criticism in the media for her response to the Russian invasion and Germany\u2019s sluggish support for Ukraine.
\nThe minister was mocked in January 2022 for her announcement that Germany would send 5,000 helmets to Kyiv, where the government was asking for heavy weapons to ward off Moscow.
\nAt a regular press conference, a spokesman for the defense ministry declined to comment on the \u201cprivate video\u201d put out by Lambrecht. He would only say that \u201cno official resources\u201d were used in the production of the clip.
\nAfter two years during which fireworks were banned due to the coronavirus pandemic, revellers in Germany once again took to the streets to set off thousands of rockets and firecrackers.
\nThe scenes in Berlin provided an uneasy backdrop for Lambrecht\u2019s video at the same time as the Ukrainian capital was the target of Russian airstrikes.
\nThis round of anarchic celebrations led to dozens of injuries and at least one death, with fireworks also aimed at emergency service workers across Germany.
\nThe scale of the chaos left Interior Minister Nancy Faeser \u201cstunned and angry.\u201d
\nAnyone attacking the police or rescue workers \u201cmust be punished with the full severity of the law,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BERLIN Filmed on the streets of Berlin amid chaotic New Year\u2019s celebrations a video address from the German defense minister posted on social media drew criticism Monday for its tone-deaf message. Barely audible above the sound of exploding fireworks, Christine Lambrecht reflected on a year ending with \u201cwar raging in the middle of Europe.\u201d The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305129,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-305106","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n