Bettina Stark-Watzinger is the gray mouse in the traffic light coalition teeming with alpha animals. This is not only due to her uninfluential education department, but also to her personality: the FDP politician doesn’t push herself in front of every microphone.
But now she has also discovered the fashionable topic that no government or Union politician can do without: the blessing of war for one’s own self-esteem.
According to the minister, German teachers must prepare students for war, which – as Heraclitus’s ex-high school students know – is the father of all things.
Stark-Watzinger didn’t use the word “defensive”, but her resounding “resilient” also sounded quite strong. This includes schools developing a “relaxed relationship with the Bundeswehr” and inviting officers into the classroom.
One thing distinguishes Stark-Watzinger from other war gargles: the reserve corporal would fight herself. “You probably can’t answer the question until it comes to that,” she said. “But basically I would say: yes.”
Traffic light orders, we’ll come.