The officer who ran Germany’s military aid effort for Ukraine from inside the Defence Ministry is set to lead the entire Bundeswehr. On Thursday, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius named Lieutenant General Christian Freuding the next Chief of Defence. He takes over from General Carsten Breuer in February 2027.
Freuding, 55, comes from Weiden in the Upper Palatinate and has headed the army since October 2025. The choice was widely expected; the speed is the surprise. Breuer was elected chair of the NATO Military Committee in September and is moving to Brussels. Settling the succession now gives the armed forces some certainty during a period of rapid expansion.
His career has run close to politics. From 2017 to 2019 he was adjutant to a defence minister, then built up the ministry’s Planning and Leadership Staff. After Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 he took over the Sonderstab Ukraine, which coordinates German support for Kyiv. As army chief he set up the service’s first drone regiment. He also explains the war in his own videos, some watched more than a million times, Euronews reports.
Pistorius called him “highly respected internationally” and “excellently networked”, saying Freuding has everything it takes to guide soldiers “into the new era in which we must protect ourselves better than in previous decades”. The Bundeswehr is growing strongly, the minister said, and needs strong leadership. Freuding told Euronews: “The enemy will not wait for us to report ready.” Speed of decision-making, in his view, matters as much as equipment.
What does it mean for Ukraine policy? We do not expect a change of course, if anything the opposite. The new chief knows Ukraine’s needs first-hand: air defence, drones, ammunition, training. We think it likely that lessons from the war will shape procurement and force structure even more, though that is not certain. The Chief of Defence advises and commands; money and weapons deliveries are decided by the minister, the Bundestag and the Chancellery.
For Pistorius the appointment is also a form of insurance after a rocky few weeks. Euronews recalls that he recently faced criticism over attack helicopters that were initially not combat-ready. In Freuding he picks a trusted aide who promises pace and delivery. Who will succeed Freuding as army chief is open; the reports available name nobody.
Breuer stays until February. After that comes the real test for Freuding: an army that is meant to grow, digitise and become fit for war, and a war on Europe’s eastern flank whose outcome will shape every plan.
Sources: Reuters (onvista), BMVg, Augen geradeaus, Euronews, CPM Defence Network
