Rudolf Scharping: a Minister in Trouble
October 30, 2001
German defence minister Rudolf Scharping faces a special parliamentary hearing on Monday into allegations that he misused military aircraft for private purposes.
The opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) called for the closed-door hearing by the defence committee. It aims to clarify whether Scharping took airforce jets to visit his girlfriend in Frankfurt and on the Mediterranean island of Majorca.
Pictures of Scharping and his girlfriend, Countess Kristina Pilati, in a popular German society magazine prompted opposition parliament members to take a closer look at his use of military flights. The pictures showed the two splashing about in a pool and kissing while vacationing on Majorca.
The minister interrupted his holiday to attend a parliamentary vote in Berlin on sending German troops on a NATO mission to Macedonia. He then used a military jet to fly back to Majorca for one night before travelling to Skopje to greet German troops.
A further embarrassment is that Scharping's jaunts through the air coincide with an all-out effort to balance the defence budget. At a cost of 7,000 marks, or 3,200 dollars, an hour, the minister's flights contrast awkwardly with that goal.
Scharping has apologized for allowing the publication of the photos, but insists the parliamentary hearing will prove he broke no rules.
Chancellor Gerhard Schröder - who can ill afford to lose another minister - has continued to back Scharping. Less than nine months ago, his government suffered the high profile departures of the health and agriculture ministers.
If Scharping goes, he would be the eighth person to quit the cabinet since the Schröder government came into office in 1998. Monday's parliamentary inquiry could well strengthen the calls for Scharping's resignation.