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Berlin (dpa) - The CSU member of the Bundestag Hans Michelbach has apologized in the Wirecard case to Chancellor Angela Merkel for the lobbying of his party friend Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.
Michelbach said on Friday after Merkel's testimony in the Bundestag's committee of inquiry with a view to the former minister: "There are just things that you don't do, namely that you use a Chancellor for your own business."
For this he apologized to the Chancellor for his party.
Michelbach is a member of the committee of inquiry.
Merkel had advertised Wirecard's market entry in the People's Republic on a trip to China in September 2019. Shortly before, Guttenberg, who worked as a lobbyist for Wirecard, had visited her in the Chancellery and campaigned for the company. Merkel said in the committee that there had been no prior announcement on topics in the conversation with Guttenberg.
SPD chairman Jens Zimmermann said Guttenberg had pursued financial interests as a Wirecard lobbyist.
His Green colleague Danyal Bayaz said the “unrestrained lobbying” at Wirecard culminated in Guttenberg's visit to Merkel.
There were already many indications at the time that something was wrong at Wirecard.
Merkel should have been more careful not to take Guttenberg off his feet.
Bayaz called for stricter rules for this kind of “subtle” lobbying.
FDP chairman Florian Toncar called the Chancellor's commitment to Wirecard on her trip to China a mistake.
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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210423-99-327877 / 2