By IMRE KARACS
BERLIN - The scandal over "mad cow" disease in Germany claimed its first political casualties yesterday when the Ministers of Health and Agriculture were forced to resign after mounting criticism that they had ignored the risks posed by infected beef.
First to quit was Andrea Fischer, the Green Party Health Minister.
"I must acknowledge that the confidence of citizens has been shaken by the BSE problem," said Fischer, choking back tears. "I certainly made mistakes in recent weeks. I regret them."
Fischer conceded that the confusion over the safety of wurst was a low point in her career.
But she insisted that she was not the only official to have underestimated the threat.
She complained that she had presided over the "meltdown of industrial agriculture."
Without mentioning Agriculture Minister Karl-Heinz Funke by name, Fischer left no doubt that she held his administration responsible for the debacle of recent months.
As a parting shot, she lashed out at the farmers' lobby, forcefully represented in Government by Funke, a dairy farmer.
"The real cause of BSE lies in industrial agriculture, which puts profit ahead of the interests of consumers," Fisher said, her voice trembling in bitterness.
Within an hour of her farewell came the announcement that Funke would be spending more time with his cows. The Agriculture Minister seemed to know little of this decision as he was touring farms in southern Germany, and his office was busily denying such reports.
The news of his "resignation" came not from Funke, but from the Chancellery.
It seemed only a matter of time before heads began to roll in the German cabinet over BSE.
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Administration foolishly followed the example of its predecessor in claiming that German cows were immune to the disease. Berlin systematically ignored warnings from the EU, even as other equally complacent European countries were discovering BSE in their herds.
Over past weeks it has emerged that urgent messages from Brussels got lost in the labyrinth of the Berlin bureaucracy, and may never have reached the Health Ministry.
Warnings from the EU that Germany was deluding itself were addressed to Funke, who belongs to Chancellor Schroeder's Social Democrat party. They reached him only weeks later, and even then Fischer was not fully informed.
The two ministers communicated to each other with a loud-hailer. At the weekend they clashed again, producing rival plans to fight BSE.
Funke fought hard to retain large-scale farming, while Fischer wanted big subsidies for organic farming.
- HERALD CORRESPONDENT
First political heads roll in 'mad cow' scandal
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.