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Anyone who has ever been in a cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) will always get an appointment with her.

That was "a matter of course" for her, said Merkel in front of the Wirecard investigative committee, and of course also applied to Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (CSU).

There is no agenda for such personal meetings with alumni and no sound recordings either.

An appointment is simply made and the guest is properly registered at the gate.

The one-on-one conversation, which lasted 45 minutes, is of public interest because it took place at the beginning of September 2019 shortly before a trip to China - the trip during which the Chancellor promoted Wirecard's entry into the Chinese market.

At the time of the meeting, Guttenberg was working as a lobbyist for the payment service provider and also spoke to Merkel about it, as the former Minister of Economic Affairs and Defense himself had testified to the committee.

You could not remember that Guttenberg specifically mentioned Wirecard, said Merkel.

But it must have been about a company, otherwise she would not have referred him to her economic advisor Lars-Henrik Röller.

That is the usual way when things get professional in such informal discussions.

How could this financial gap not be noticed?

Now the Chancellor has to answer questions in the committee of inquiry into the accounting scandal at the former Dax company Wirecard.

She campaigned for Wirecard on a trip to China in September 2019.

Source: WORLD / Angela Knäble

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With the reference to the technical level, the usual "transaction process" begins, i.e. the processes become official.

She therefore does not see a problem in such conversations.

"There would be room for speculation if I hadn't referred to my specialist officials," said Merkel.

In any case, there is no question for her that she and the Federal Government regularly campaign for the interests of German companies abroad.

Wirecard's goals would have coincided with the general goals of opening up markets in China.

"Wirecard AG did not enjoy any special treatment during the trip," emphasized Merkel.

Wirecard was also just one of several companies whose concerns she addressed to people in China on her trip.

This seldom goes beyond more than one sentence per company.

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In retrospect, it looked like the trip was a Wirecard trip, "but that's a long way off," said Merkel.

The company had not even expressed interest in the run-up to be part of the accompanying business delegation, nor did it take part in the signing ceremony.

Wirecard was about the planned takeover of the Chinese company AllScore Financial.

Reasons not to mention the topic to her interlocutors in China did not exist at the time.

"At that time, despite all the press reports, there was no reason to assume serious irregularities at Wirecard," said the CDU politician.

Merkel made it clear that there is no one hundred percent protection against criminal activities.

Nevertheless, everything must be done to prevent such a case from happening again, she said with a view to Wirecard.

Merkel referred to planned reforms of the financial supervision.

"Amigo network of lobbyists and consultants"

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Opposition and SPD politicians criticized the Chancellor immediately before her appearance.

Green chairman Danyal Bayaz said that Merkel could not be blamed directly because she was "ridden in" by her people.

But she has not covered herself with fame.

With a view to Guttenberg, for example, Bayaz spoke of an “Amigo network of lobbyists and consultants” around Wirecard.

The relationship between Merkel and Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg apparently did not improve the meeting in the run-up to the China trip, this became clear during the hearing of witnesses in the investigative committee.

She does not feel deceived by her former minister because he used the personal interview for his lobbying work.

But he was there “completely guided by interests”, as it turned out.

They don't appreciate that.

The contact with Guttenberg "died at the moment".

There has been no further conversation between them since the meeting in early September 2019.