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German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock had to cancel a meeting with her British counterpart after her plane was grounded in Ireland due to snow.
Barebock said she was “very sad” she could not meet British Foreign Secretary James Smart.
“But you can’t do anything about a force event – and certainly not about unexpected snow and ice in Dublin,” the minister said.
She was scheduled to return to Berlin after the aircraft was de-iced.
Barebock met his Irish counterpart Simon Coveney in Dublin on Thursday.
She was also keen to travel to the UK to underline the importance of Germany’s partnership with Britain despite the problems caused by Brexit.
“We are close partners and friends,” the minister said in Berlin before visiting Ireland and Britain on Thursday.
The meeting has been postponed twice before, once for an emergency when British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned and the second time due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September.
Trapped before German government officials
It is not the first time that problems with planes have derailed German diplomacy.
In 2018, then Chancellor Angela Merkel missed the opening of the G20 summit in Argentina because her plane was forced to land shortly after leaving Berlin.
A year later the then foreign minister, Heiko Maas, was stranded in Mali after his plane could not take off due to problems.
Snow mechanics are not a problem
Germany’s air force has since purchased three new Airbus A350s for VIP transport to replace its aging fleet of government aircraft.
However on Friday the issue appeared to be caused by the weather at Dublin Airport rather than the plane itself.
Many frustrated passengers took to social media to complain about the long delays.
Dublin Airport and Ryanair, which uses it as a hub, wrote on Twitter that heavy snow had caused flight delays and cancellations.
lo/aw (dpa, Reuters)
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