Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Scharping fights on after more amorous revelations

Imre Karacs
Tuesday 11 September 2001 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Germany's besotted Defence Minister was grilled by a parliamentary committee yesterday over conjugal visits to his girlfriend at the taxpayer's expense, but he insisted he had done nothing wrong and again defied calls to resign.

Rudolf Scharping, nicknamed Randy Rudi in the tabloid press, had been summoned to explain why he had allegedly flown 50 times on the government jet in the past 12 months to Frankfurt, the city where his companion, Countess Kristina Pilati, lives.

Gerhard Schröder, the German Chancellor who has lost seven members of his Cabinet in his three years in office, said Mr Scharping still enjoyed his backing. "The minister has explained that all the flights were work-related," he said.

Mr Scharping's love life has been the talk of Germany for more than two weeks, after photographs of his post-marital bliss with the countess in a Majorca swimming pool were shown on the cover of a gossip magazine. The picturesappeared just as he was ordering hundreds of German soldiers into Macedonia.

The national hilarity over the affairs of a statesman viewed as among the dullest turned serious with the news that he was spending most of his time in the pool even as he was supposedly preparing the Macedonia mission. Shortly after the tense parliamentary vote authorising the deployment, Mr Scharping was back in Majorca – by way of Skopje – leaving opposition politicians stranded in the Balkans without a plane.

This is not the first time Mr Scharping has been the butt of jokes. His brief career as leader of the Social Democrat party came to a sudden end in 1995, when he fell victim to a coup he never saw coming.

To lose another minister would be unfortunate for Mr Schröder's government but, if further revelations emerge, the German Chancellormay have no other choice.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in