Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, best known to Germans as "AKK", will be appointed on Wednesday during a handover in Berlin with her predecessor von der Leyen and the first vice president of the Bundesrat upper house, which confirmed the news in a statement.
Von der Leyen, who had served as defence minister since 2013, will step down to become the first woman to hold the EU's top job after MEPs narrowly backed her in a Tuesday vote.
Before Kramp-Karrenbauer, who is widely seen as the chancellor's chosen heir, was announced as the new minister, Merkel had said there would be a "very fast replacement".
"The defence ministry, the defence minister, hold command and military authority. We cannot leave this post empty for long," she said.
It will be the first ministerial post for Kramp-Karrenbauer, who was born in Saarland, near the French border, and has become a leading figure in German politics.
Sometimes called "mini-Merkel", she has been poised to take over as chancellor since becoming CDU chief in December after Merkel announced she would not seek another term when her current one ends in 2021.
However the 56-year-old's appointment to the difficult post on Tuesday evening came as a surprise to some, after she came under strong criticism for the CDU's poor results in May's European Parliament election.
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, is Copyright 1995-2026 Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principles for news reporting and research purposes. |
