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Family Minister Spiegel resigns
04/11/2022, 2:38 p.m
Less than 24 hours after an emotional appearance in front of the press, Federal Family Minister Spiegel has resigned from her position. The Green politician had come under pressure because of a vacation in the summer of 2021, which she took shortly after the flood disaster in the Ahr valley.
Federal Family Minister Anne Spiegel has resigned. Today, “due to political pressure, she decided to make the office of Federal Family Minister available,” she said in writing. She is doing this “to avert damage from the office, which is facing major political challenges.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz “took note of the decision with great respect,” said deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann. “He worked closely and trustingly with Anne Spiegel in the federal cabinet. Her statement yesterday also touched and affected the Chancellor personally. He wishes her all the best for the future after this difficult time.”
Green leader Omid Nouripour said on the sidelines of the Green retreat in Husum that the resignation was correct. “We thank her very much for her decision to take responsibility and also for her work as Minister for Family Affairs.” No damage was done to the Greens. “We will be making a proposal for the successor very soon, promptly,” said Nouripour.
Spiegel was criticized after it became known that she had taken a four-week vacation in France ten days after the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley in summer 2021. At that time she was still Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of the Environment. During an emotional appearance, she described the holiday on Sunday evening as a mistake and apologized for it. She also admitted that, contrary to what was originally announced, she had not switched to the cabinet meetings from the holidays. During her vacation, Spiegel had been represented by one of her two state secretaries.
“It was a mistake that we went on vacation for so long and I apologize for this mistake,” said Spiegel on Sunday evening. She decided to do this because of the great burden on the family, after her husband had a stroke in March 2019 and traces of the corona pandemic in the four children. Spiegel’s resignation is the first resignation of a member of the traffic light cabinet.