The three string pullers of the traffic light.
(Photo: Getty Images)
Berlin A mild summer evening at the end of June. While stand-up paddlers enjoy the sunset on the Griebnitzsee, Anja Hajduk’s (Greens) working day is far from over. The State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics is in the Potsdam offices of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and on the phone. The other participants in the conversation: Chancellery Minister Wolfgang Schmidt (SPD) and Steffen Saebisch (FDP), State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance.
While the three are talking, two black limousines with darkened side windows pull up in front of the Naumann Foundation. The cars are in the parking lot for 15 minutes, nothing moves, only the chirping of birds can be heard. Then Hajduk runs to the parking lot and ends the call. The car doors open, two men in dark blue suits get out and greet Hajduk. They are: Schmidt and Saebisch.
Anja Hajduk, Wolfgang Schmidt and Steffen Saebisch probably only know very few Germans. For the relevant popularity lists of politicians, their names are not even asked.
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