That’s why Stoltenberg isn’t coming to Berlin after all

Jens Stoltenberg actually wanted to meet Chancellor Scholz and Defense Minister Lambrecht this Thursday. Now he doesn’t come, and the reason is clear.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has canceled his trip to the capital at short notice. This was announced by the Federal Ministry of Defense on Thursday. “The NATO Secretary General has informed that his visit to Berlin will be canceled at short notice,” it said in a statement. Stoltenberg wanted to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (both SPD) in Berlin.

The cancellation is due to health reasons. A NATO spokesman in Brussels said that Stoltenberg was ill and would make the planned visit to Germany “not personally, but from afar”. In conversation is a video conference. According to the spokesman, Stoltenberg suffers from shingles, which can occur after a Covid 19 disease. Stoltenberg therefore works from home. Shingles is a contagious viral disease that causes a rash. Stoltenberg was infected with Corona in mid-May.

The talks with Scholz should have focused on preparing for the NATO summit in Madrid at the end of June. According to the German government, the focus should also be on the effects of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine on the Euro-Atlantic security situation. According to the Defense Ministry, the planned reinforcement of NATO’s eastern flank, NATO’s new strategic concept and the NATO accession of Finland and Sweden were also on the agenda.