Visit from Scholz etc.

This is how much the German government paid for flights to the European Championships

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Germany-Denmark soccer match in Dortmund(Bild: AFP/Ina Fassbender)

The German Armed Forces Air Wing flew members of the government six times to attend this year's European Football Championships (see video above). These include Chancellor Olaf Scholz and cabinet members such as Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.

The missions cost around one hundred thousand euros each. At 114,487.41 euros, the most expensive flight was the one from Berlin to Stuttgart and back for the Germany-Hungary match on June 19. The government spent a total of 531,000 euros, as the Ministry of Defense replied to a question from an opposition left-wing party. The Federal Chancellery has ordered four out of six flight connections.

Scholz at the Germany-Denmark match(Bild: AFP/Ina Fassbender)

Left: "Completely irresponsible or outof touch" 
 "Anyone who incurs costs of over half a million euros for six alleged business trips is either completely irresponsible or definitely out of touch," criticized MP Sören Pellmann from the Left Party. The air force should "not be the alternative travel option for an evening entertainment program of the federal government." At the same time, he pointed out that the rail alternative had been cut.

The Ministry of Defense in turn stated that the flying hours were covered in the Bundeswehr's annual program. It was also a matter of maintaining the licenses. In other words, some costs and flight hours would have been necessary even without this mission.