Ursula von der Leyen had certainly imagined her longest business trip so far. For more than a week, the Secretary of Defense is currently traveling in Asia. On Saturday she arrived in Mongolia and visited the local instructors of the Bundeswehr. On Sunday morning, she landed with the white government Airbus in the Chinese capital Beijing.
The program of the trip is actually quite casual. Apart from a few political talks, many sightseeing appointments are on the calendar. After two days in China, where she first went through the Forbidden City and the Great Wall on the first day, she flies to Australia for several days to attend the "Invictus Games". Then it's time for a security conference in Bahrain.
But the Minister does not let go of the negative headlines from home. At home, the inconsistencies of the excessive use of consultants to the affair grow out, the "FAZ" writes of a "quake in the Bendler block". Consequently, the Leyen depends a lot on the phone on the trip, actually always, once it has disappeared in its armored limousine.
The commander is - again - in crisis mode. Just one hour before departure on Friday afternoon, she had decided that her speaker, who was well versed in such situations, would rather stay in Berlin, in the command center. This alone shows that the brisk minister takes the consultant affair pretty seriously.
"Command shut up"
The nose was right. As soon as Leyen arrived in Mongolia, the first ugly news arrived. Quite prominently reported at home the "Welt am Sonntag", from the Leyens Hausleitung soldiers and officials of the Bundeswehr in a kind Maulkorberlass forbade any contact with members of the Bundestag, the "shut up command" was the speech.
The outcry was great. MPs complained that the Leyen imposed a news blackout as it feared further revelations about the chaos in their home. There, which is already certain, consultant contracts have been illegally awarded in recent years. But maybe there was more, maybe even a kind of nepotism between the military and the smart experts.
For an experienced politician like her, the Leyen in Beijing initially reacts gruffly. Through an officer, she lets the traveling journalists know that she will not say a single word about the affair at home in China. Shortly afterwards, when she makes a statement about China in front of the impressive backdrop of the Great Wall of China, there is no question of her in protest.
The somewhat brusque behavior lets us see how uncertain the Minister is currently. At home, investigative teams quickly investigate more than 500 consultancy contracts for inconsistencies. To this day nobody knows how deep the swamp is below the feet of Leyen. Is she at risk of perishing in the vortex like many of her predecessors in the military department? She sure is not herself.
Questionable budgets of tens of millions of euros
The affair started with a report from the Court of Audit on an IT project of the Bundeswehr, for which funds had been illegally obtained from framework agreements of the federal government. But now the audit bends over all contracts with external management consultants in recent years, this involves budgets of dozens, maybe even hundreds of millions of euros.
The minister is not less than her reputation. As a self-styled reformer she stands for transparency and straightforwardness like hardly any other top politician. If it turns out that under her aegis a life of its own, even a give and take between civil servants or military and the advisors has developed, that would probably be the political end.
The Leyen does not have much time. The opposition is already threatened with a committee of inquiry if the military department does not fully inform Parliament by the beginning of November. Until then, Leyen must have absolute clarity about how much has gone wrong and whether she can find culprits for the affair.
From the past, quite turbulent years has from the Leyen crisis experience. After the first reports of sadistic-sexual rituals in the paramedic training in Pfullendorf or the arrest of the officer Franco A. covered them with shorthand actions and quick blame. This time she wants solid evidence, but she needs time that she does not have.
During the trip in Beijing, the Leyen at least finds her composure again. In the evening, her team distributes a message aimed primarily at the opposition. "We need time to clarify the various allegations cleanly and carefully" and "draw the necessary conclusions", it says. As soon as possible, however, the Bundestag will be informed about the research.
At the same time, the ministry in Berlin turns to the angry deputies. Accordingly, the letter mentioned in the "Welt" is by no means to be understood as a muzzle. Rather, it is regrettable that it came to the statement to misunderstandings, they only served the better coordination of appointments of top officials in the Bundestag.
With the reassurances, the minister may gain some time, but nothing more. In the next few days, as everyone in your team knows, situations like the one on Sunday can always be repeated. For Wednesday, the departure from Beijing to Australia is planned. At the latest then, crisis management will be really difficult.
Because of the time difference.