The Best Man Affair, or: How a family got caught up in politics (2023)

Again and again, politics is human. But the affair surrounding the replaced Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Patrick Graichen, is an absolute special case. It hits a whole network of relationships.

Markus Decker

05/23/2023, 11:00 a.m

Dear reader,

human relationships are fragile events. This is indicated by the divorce rate, which recently amounted to almost 40 percent in Germany. Relationships are held together by similar backgrounds, shared interests and beliefs, and similarities in character. Like attracts like: That's actually true always and everywhere. At the same time, the opposite also applies always and everywhere: that under different circumstances, love can turn into disappointment, contempt, even hatred. And especially in politics, where the common interests usually clearly outweigh.

Meanwhile, breaches in the regulation of government affairs usually attract a great deal of attention. The best man affair about the previous andSecretary of State for Economic Affairs Patrick Graichen, who was dismissed by his boss Robert Habeckis a striking example of this in the literal sense - all the more so since an entire circle of family and friends is affected.

Now he has to go after all: Federal Economics Minister Habeck is ending cooperation with State Secretary Graichen. This not only broke a relationship between two politicians.

© Source: Kay Nietfeld/dpa

That the human breaks through happens more often in politics. The building minister at the time, Irmgard Schwaetzer (FDP), once threw a “you scheming pig” at her party friend Jürgen Möllemann. The Liberals expected to become foreign minister. But then it was Klaus Kinkel. She suspected Möllemann as the mastermind in the background.

Over the years, three politicians have been suspected of revealing details about the love life of their competitors: in the CSU Edmund Stoiber that of Theo Waigel and Markus Söder that of Horst Seehofer, and in the left Dietmar Bartsch that of Oskar Lafontaine . This resulted in deep human and political discord.

The then Chancellor Gerhard Schröder threatened the chairman of the Lower Saxony SPD regional association, Wolfgang Jüttner, because a certain Olaf Scholz had only got 52.6 percent of the votes in the election of the SPD Secretary General. Schröder shouted: "I'll finish you off." When in doubt, his green Vice Chancellor Joschka Fischer also knew how to do it: spit poison and bile. In all these cases, of course, politicians were among themselves.

Markus Söder and Horst Seehofer: Pretty best enemies.

© Source: Peter Kneffel/dpa

It's different with the best man affair. Here is firstthe relationship of trust between Habeck and Graichen collapsed- and then a whole human network from a marginal position in the middle of the whirlpool of state affairs.

A self-confident state secretary at the center of the affair

The focus is on the self-confident Patrick Graichen, who helped make his best man Michael Schäfer the head of the German Energy Agency (Dena) - although he might have become head of the German Energy Agency (Dena) anyway due to his qualifications. When the matter became known, Schäfer, as is well known, lost the post again. Graichen and Schäfer emerged damaged from the failed appeal. The two will never be able to sit together again without having this spring of 2023 in the back of their minds. The same should apply to Graichen's wife Ulrike; After all, Schäfer is also her best man.

But that's not all. After all, Patrick Graichen fell over a funding decision he approved in favor of the Bund for environmental protection and nature conservation (BUND) in Berlin, which was headed by his sister Verena until May 2022, who in turn works full-time at the Öko-Institut in Berlin, where her brother Jacob is also active. The funding amount of 600,000 euros had not yet been paid. And if it had gone, it would not have gone to Verena Graichen personally, but to the organization she represented. But for Patrick Graichen and Verena Graichen, these weeks are certainly life-shaping.

Michael Kellner, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics and thus a confidante of Habeck.

© Source: IMAGO/Chris Emil Janßen

Finally, there is Michael Kellner, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and therefore a confidante of Habeck. Professionally, Kellner has no shares in the affair. Personally, he is very comfortable with her. He is Verena Graichen's husband and therefore Patrick Graichen's brother-in-law.

Meanwhile, the audience may be asking themselves more than usual with political affairs: what could have happened to me? As a sister, brother, friend?

In any case, we are dealing with relationships of six people who, due to their own mistakes and general circumstances, are nothing like they used to be. You can see it politically however you want. But from a human point of view it's quite a hammer.

Bitter truth

When the Russian attack on Ukraine began, the Chancellor's reluctance was palpable. After the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj spoke to the members of the Bundestag on March 17 last year, Olaf Scholz refrained from replying. He also initially did not want to send any heavy weapons into the country and did not want to travel to the capital Kiev, although Western politicians have long since put their foot down there. In the meantime, the Chancellor justified this by saying that the Ukraine had disinvited Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. As a result, the Ukrainian ambassador Andriy Melnyk, in his inimitable way, called the chancellor an “offended liverwurst”.

Scholz was in Kiev in the meantime and had armored personnel carriers and battle tanks delivered. But that he and Zelenskyy were now talking to each other like old friends at the G7 summit in Hiroshima:Be careful!At least one of the two is a trained actor, specializing in comedy.

Met again in Hiroshima: Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine.

© Source: Michael Kappeler/dpa

How other countries look at the situation

The Swiss “Tages-Anzeiger” says about Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens):

"Habeck made a lot of mistakes, not only in dealing with his state secretary, but also of a technical nature: Some of the laws from his house were so complicated that even the experts did not understand them, and some were overtaken by the development before the crisis they came into force. In essence, however, it was his downfall that he not only talks about the climate goals to which the government has committed himself, but actually wants to achieve them. This is less important to the SPD, and even less so to the FDP. When it comes to climate protection, the two have long joined forces against the Greens.

The Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger writes about Economics Minister Robert Habeck: "Some laws from his house were so complicated that even the experts did not understand them".

© Source: Kay Nietfeld/dpa

The minister knows that the heating transition is perhaps the most difficult part of his climate policy. "Here we are not negotiating with five corporations," he said recently, "but with 84 million citizens." But it was precisely for these "unpleasant things" that he became a minister. Habeck will fight for his law, that's for sure. He hopes to return to calmer waters afterwards, where the mood can brighten up again. He has not yet given up on his dream of becoming his party’s candidate for chancellor in 2025.”

The Warsaw daily Gazeta Wyborcza comments on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Berlin:

“(During Zelenskyy's visit) Germany pledged to support ailing Ukraine for as long as needed and promised to help her on the road to EU membership. This is a big change, because just a year ago German-Ukrainian relations were bad. The reason for this was German resistance to the rearmament of Ukraine. The ruling Social Democrats didn't want to hear anything about it - in view of the innate German pacifism and the naive belief that conflicts should be solved diplomatically and not on the battlefield. When Russia attacked, the Germans initially refused to give the Ukrainians arms because it was a cardinal principle of their foreign policy not to send armaments into conflict zones.

There is no longer any trace of these irritations. Because Germany has quickly become one of the most important donors - both in terms of money and military equipment. After his meeting with Steinmeier, Zelenskyi broke another taboo on arms deliveries to Ukraine – he spoke to Chancellor Scholz about the delivery of modern combat aircraft.”

This is also worth reading

Like the rest of our Berlin office, my colleague Andreas Niesmann, head of the economics department, spends a lot of time at his desk. But now he has made a long journey. Niesmann was with Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the G7 summit in Hiroshima and then at the demarcation line between North and South Korea. From there he brought back a feature worth reading with a pretty ambiguous headline: The Border Crosser.Olaf Schulz visits South Korea - and sends embassy to Pyongyang

Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and his wife Britta Ernst visiting the demilitarized zone on the border with North Korea.

© Source: Michael Kappeler/dpa

Before that, my colleague Kristina Dunz accompanied the chancellor – to Iceland. A dominant theme was once again Russia's attack on Ukraine.Peace with Russia? Scholz: Hard to imagine - but he will come

Kristina Dunz wrote a very special text about the CDU politician Helge Braun. The doctor was chancellery minister under Angela Merkel and is now head of the powerful Bundestag budget committee. Not only because Braun has lost a lot of weight in the meantime: It is the most interesting story of a transformation.Helge Braun: the new life of Merkel's head of the chancellery(+)

Syria? Hardly anyone is interested in the country today - although President Bashar al-Assad, who is held in power by the Russian President, has hundreds of thousands on his conscience and last but not least the war in his country triggered the refugee crisis in Germany. In an interview with Syria expert Muriel Asseburg, my colleague Daniela Vates explored the important question of what it means that al-Assad's Syria was reinstated in the Arab League:Assad's return to the Arab League: Middle East expert speaks of the "nail in the coffin" for the Arab Spring

The team of authors of this newsletter will be in touch again on Thursday. Then my colleague Eva Quadbeck reports. Until then!

Heartfelt

Her

Markus Decker

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