In mid-April, the German website Business Insider reported that on Easter, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht took a short break on the North Sea island of Zylt. So far no one was able to send in the perfect solution, which is not strange. With her was her 21-year-old son, Alexander, who flew to Zylt using a Luftwaffe Cougar helicopter of the German Air Force. On April 15, he even posted characteristic photos from the helicopter on his personal Instagram account, wishing “Happy Easter”. Business Insider estimates that one hour of flying with the Cougar costs 5,300 euros.
Is there anything wrong with that? According to current law, Luftwaffe aircraft are allowed to be used by the President of the Republic, the Chancellor, ministers and the Speaker of Parliament or the Upper House, but only for the performance of their duties. “Guests” are allowed to travel free of charge, provided they accompany the country’s president, chancellor or foreign minister. Otherwise they will have to pay to the public treasury 30% of the price provided for a Lufthansa flight on the same route. Mrs Lambrecht has stated that she has paid the prescribed price and no one has argued otherwise.
Seven more trips in the past
According to the website of the first German television channel (ARD) on Tuesday, the minister had already left Berlin on Wednesday with her son to visit military installations in the state of Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. He then flew for a short vacation to Zylt Island. Probably the use of a military helicopter was the most practical solution, in order to fit everything – the official obligations, but also the holidays – in the busy schedule of the days of Easter. In a statement, the Ministry of Defense clarified that “everything was done in full compliance with the prescribed instructions” and the minister paid the prescribed fee. However, the Bild newspaper later searched and found that in the recent past, when Christine Lambrecht was Minister of Justice, her son had traveled with the “official mission” of the Minister in seven other cases, always paying the estimated costs. These are business trips to Ljubljana, Helsinki, Liechtenstein, Lisbon, Luxembourg, Paris and Prague.
This is where the first critical voices begin to be heard. Thorsten Fry, a leader of the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU), told Bild that “the Secretary of Defense, as the general in charge of the armed forces, should be more tactful and not confuse Lufthansa with Luftwaffe.” to add that “there are things that are forbidden and there are things that just no one does…” The head of the Committee on Defense Affairs in the German Parliament, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, speaks of an “unusual incident”. At the moment, everything shows that this case alone can not “touch” the Minister of Defense. However, a public television commentator (ARD) points out, “if the minister finds herself in the awkward position of recalling even one word of what she is saying today, there could be unpleasant consequences.”
Giannis Papadimitriou (ARD, DPA)
Source: Deutsche Welle
Source: Capital
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