In the so-called Subsidy Affair, Federal Education Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) has defended his latest decision to uphold the confidentiality obligation of the former State Secretary Sabine Döring. “I must also protect the personal rights of my employees in such a case” Özdemir told the “Spiegel”.
The controversy revolves around allegations against the Federal Ministry of Education and Research under Özdemir’s predecessor, Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP). It is claimed that the ministry had considered cutting subsidies for critical scientists who had signed an open letter in connection with Gaza protests. Döring was prematurely retired in mid-June and received a gag order in accordance with the civil service code.
Özdemir had ordered an internal review to investigate the matter. According to the now available final report, “no misconduct in the administrative process was found to have occurred” the minister explained. “However, it is clear that at least there was a lack of clarity regarding the political mandate of the former FDP leadership. As a result, a reputation damage has been caused in the public, which is grave.”
During the internal review of the BMBF, over 1,000 pages of documents were reviewed, and the former State Secretary Döring was extensively interviewed. In light of the result, it is unlikely that a public inquiry would yield additional findings, the minister said. “If statement is pitted against statement, I cannot unravel this. And what do we gain by washing dirty laundry now?