German President Christian Wulff on Thursday appointed Thomas de Maiziere as Germany's new defence minister, and Hans-Peter Friedrich as new interior minister, in a cabinet reshuffle prompted by the resignation of Karl-Theodor zu Guttennberg earlier this week, DPA reported.
De Maiziere, of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, moved from the interior ministry, making way for his successor Friedrich, of Bavaria's Christian Social Union. The two parties are nationally allied.
Guttenberg, who was defence minister, announced his resignation Tuesday, two weeks after revelations that he had copied a large proportion of his doctoral thesis from sources without citation.
Throughout the plagiarism scandal, Guttenberg remained a popular figure whose political departure many Germans regretted.
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