Former DDR Minister Defends Stolpe in Stasi Claim

Former East German Foreign Secretary Markus Meckel has dismissed allegations of Stasi involvement surrounding German Transport Minister Manfred Stolpe. Recent speculation has focused on the possibility that Stolpe was an unofficial employee of the East German Ministry of State Security (Stasi) while acting as a church lawyer in the 1970’s. Meckel said on Monday that there was no proof of any Stasi-related activity in Stolpe’s past and that at the time he was a “man of the church.” Meckel dismissed recent reports that paperwork discovered in the on-going Stasi investigations was authorized by a person in the Protestant church. The report suggests that Stolpe was that person.