President trades blows with paper over loan scandal

GERMANY’S president and its biggest-selling newspaper traded blows last night over whether he tried to prevent it from publishing a report on a controversial private loan, adding to the embattled head of state’s troubles.

President Christian Wulff has faced intense pressure to explain himself since it emerged that he left an angry message on December 12 on the voicemail of Bild newspaper’s editor-in-chief Kai Diekmann — the day before the story appeared.

Wulff was Chancellor Angela Merkel’s candidate for the presidency and is a former deputy leader of her conservative party. A resignation would be embarrassing and distracting for Merkel as she tries to tame the eurozone debt crisis.

Bild reported on December 13 that Wulff received a €500,000 private loan from the wife of a wealthy businessman and friend, apparently at below market rates, in 2008. He used the money to buy a house. At the time, he was governor of Lower Saxony state. But months before he became president in 2010, regional opposition lawmakers asked Wulff if he had business relations with his longtime friend, Egon Geerkens, a former jeweller and investor. He said he hadn’t, failing to mention the substantial loan from Geerkens’ wife.

Prosecutors say they see no evidence of a criminal offence regarding the loan and won’t investigate. But Germany’s largely ceremonial president is supposed to serve as a moral authority, and critics have raised questions over Wulff’s integrity and judgment.

Before Christmas, Wulff apologised for not disclosing the loan in 2010.