In the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs, the CDU minister Katherina Reiche has spurred mounting unease. According to insiders speaking to “Handelsblatt”, several staff members were asked by ministry leadership to sign a declaration of service. Their e‑mail accounts were also searched.
The incident stemmed from the fact that a list of participants for an upcoming delegation trip to Saudi Arabia had been leaked. A news portal had published the names of corporate representatives set to accompany Reiche at the end of January. Those names came from an internal ministry list that contained confidential remarks. The disclosure angered the ministry’s leadership.
With Reiche’s backing, the ministry ordered every employee involved to sign a sworn statement affirming that they had not passed any information to unauthorized third parties. Additionally, the leadership arranged a partial examination of the affected staff’s e‑mail traffic. It is unclear whether the search uncovered anything.
Insiders said the measures caused significant discontent among the workforce. Because the leak had limited impact, the ministry is reportedly operating under a climate of mistrust and general suspicion.
When asked for comment, a ministry spokesperson declined to discuss internal IT and security protocols. He did, however, emphasize that the release of confidential information is strictly forbidden. Such breaches jeopardise decision‑making processes, erode trust within the government, and damage the credibility of ministries. He stressed that preventing leaks serves the interest of all employees.
