BERLIN, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Appointed German Minister for Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer acknowledged that her "special office also entails a special responsibility" in a letter sent to the German armed forces on Thursday.
"The Bundeswehr deserves the highest political priority and firm support in our society," said Kramp-Karrenbauer, who is also leader of the German conservative Christian Democrats Union (CDU).
Kramp-Karrenbauer was appointed on Wednesday, replacing Ursula von der Leyen, who had been elected as the new European Commission president.
The CDU leader noted in the letter that she would "now intensively familiarize" herself with her new office.
Alexander Dobrindt, regional group leader of the Bavarian CSU, welcomed Kramp-Karrenbauer's appointment, adding that the new defense minister would have "the full support of the CSU in overcoming the challenges facing the Bundeswehr."
Jens Spahn (CDU), Minster for Health, who was initially considered the most likely candidate to take over from von der Leyen, also welcomed the appointment of Kramp-Karrenbauer, saying that he was pleased that Kramp-Karrenbauer would be taking over the defense ministry.
In contrast, German public support for Kramp-Karrenbauer as new defense minister was less forthcoming.
According to a survey conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov on Thursday, 54 percent of Germans described the decision to make Kramp-Karrenbauer defense minister as "bad" or even "very bad".
The survey also revealed great skepticism about Von der Leyen. Half of Germans did not believe that she could successfully hold the office in Brussels and even 39 percent of conservative CDU/CSU supporters expressed doubts.
