BERLIN, March 3 (UPI) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel named Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere her new defense minister Wednesday, replacing Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.
Maiziere, 57, is a longtime Merkel ally who served as her chief of staff and as federal minister for special affairs in her first cabinet. He has been interior minister since 2009.
Guttenberg resigned Tuesday after battling a scandal for two weeks involving plagiarism in his doctoral thesis.
Maiziere is likely to be overseeing the German military at a time of great change, The New York Times reported. The schedule includes an end to military conscription in June and a 25 percent cut in the size of the Bundeswehr from 250,000 to about 190,000.
Germany plans to start its withdrawal from Afghanistan this year.
Merkel appointed Hans-Peter Friedrich, who has represented the Christian Social Union in Parliament since 1998, to replace Maiziere at the interior department, the Financial Times reported.
