German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht has come under huge amount of criticism over her extremely 'tone-deaf' New Year's message.

In an attempt to come across as engaging and authentic, Lambrecht posted a video on her personal Instagram account against the backdrop of Berlin's fireworks.

Barely audible over the rockets and firecrackers, she said the conflict in Ukraine had led to "a lot of special experiences" and an opportunity to meet a lot of people.

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"There is a war raging in the middle of Europe," she said. "Many, many encounters with interesting and great people. I would like to say a heartfelt thank you for that."

The defense ministry has issued a short statement saying that this was done in a personal capacity by the minister and that no government resources were involved.

But there are huge questions over what made Lambrecht think the video message was a good idea.

Her party leadership, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, have not commented on the incident – but the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has. 

CDU Deputy Parliamentary Group Leader Johann Wadephul told the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, "The disturbing video from New Year's Eve shows once again that Ms Lambrecht has no [right] attitude towards the position she holds."

The calls for Lambrecht to step down are not just based on this incident. 

Germany is supposed to be undergoing a significant overhaul of its security policy, with Chancellor Scholz promising over $105 billion in defense spending. 

A 'first-class defense minister' no more?

However, since taking over as defense minister in December 2021, Lambrecht has been criticized for a range of actions – from celebrating sending helmets to Ukraine when Kyiv was asking for weapons, to taking her son for a jaunt in a military helicopter to celebrate his birthday. 

The minister also forgot to order ammunition for the Bundeswehr's guns and had to ask for additional funding for this. 

Meanwhile, spending targets have been missed for buying new equipment. And at the end of 2022, the army reported that the new Puma tank was not ready for use.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz described Ms Lambrecht as a "first-class defense minister" while fielding questions on her suitability for the job. It will be interesting to see if he still has the same opinion if similar incidents continue to happen.