The German Foreign Minister postpones her trip to South Africa due to the crisis in Russia

BERLIN, June 25 (DPA/EP) –

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has postponed her trip to South Africa for one day to consult with her EU counterparts on the internal power struggle between the Russian government and the private military group Wagner.

Baerbock “postponed his scheduled departure to South Africa by one day to attend a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday morning in view of the latest developments in Russia,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman said. .

Baerbock had planned to leave for Cape Town on Sunday afternoon for a two-day visit to strengthen bilateral cooperation and campaign for South African support for Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion.

The minister was originally due to visit a company in Cape Town on Monday that is part of the World Health Organization’s mRNA vaccine technology transfer centre. However, she still plans to co-chair a meeting of the Germany-South Africa Binational Commission in Pretoria on Tuesday.

The meeting of ministers had been previously scheduled, but it took on unexpected urgency after the armed insurrection launched by Wagner’s mercenary boss in Russia, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Prigozhin has since backed down after reaching a deal with the Kremlin, but Russia remains on edge after the rebellion against the government of President Vladimir Putin.

According to his office, Baerbock discussed the situation in Russia on Saturday with the foreign ministers of the other G7 countries. A crisis team met at the Foreign Office in Berlin.