Secretary of State Baerbock has canceled her trip to Australia, New Zealand and the Fiji Islands. After a forced break in Abu Dhabi, the second attempt to continue the journey failed due to technical problems.
After the repeated breakdowns with her government aircraft, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is now canceling her planned one-week visit to the Pacific region.
The decision was made in the morning. “We checked and planned to the last, but unfortunately it was no longer possible to logistically present the planned travel stations of the Indo-Pacific trip after the failure of the flight readiness aircraft with the options still available,” said a spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office. The Green politician was originally expected to visit Australia, New Zealand and the island republic of Fiji.
Sydney was planned as the first stop
According to information from her delegation, Baerbock should have taken a scheduled flight from the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, with her entourage directly to the Australian metropolis of Sydney in the morning because of the defective Air Force machine. But that obviously turned out to be impractical.
That night, Baerbock’s delegation and the journalists traveling with them were asked to meet in the hotel lobby at 8:00 a.m. for departure for the airport. The decision to cancel the trip, which came as a complete surprise at the time, was only made when the entire entourage was already standing in the lobby, ready to leave.
“It’s all very unfortunate”
The delegation spoke of a difficult decision in the end. “It’s all very unfortunate,” it said. In the coming months it will be important to repair the damage that has been caused. High-ranking officials are expected to travel to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji for talks and important appointments. The canceled trip must be reworked.
The Indo-Pacific remains a priority for the federal government. Baerbock wrote in the short message service: “In the Indo-Pacific we not only have close #friends and #partners. The region will decisively shape the #world order of the 21st century,” added Baerbock. “That’s why the content and personal exchange is so important.”
Baerbock had to make a longer stopover in Abu Dhabi on Monday due to a defect in the landing flaps of the Airbus A340-300. Hours later, after a test run, the machine took off again – and had to turn back for the same reason.
There were also technical problems with the government machine during a golf trip by the Foreign Minister in May. At that time, Baerbock had to extend her stay in the Emirate of Qatar by one day because the Air Force Airbus was unable to return as planned due to a flat tire.