German Ministers decline G7 invitation to Washington

Berlin, July 10 (IANS) German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz have reportedly declined an invitation to attend a G7 meeting in Washington, media reports said.Citing American and German sources, the Hamburg-based Der Spiegel magazine said on Thursday that Germany told the US administration that it would instead send state secretaries to the meeting, scheduled for July 29, reports Xinhua news agency.Other G7 member countries were also considering sending second-tier delegates to the meeting, the magazine reported.In May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declined to attend the G7 summit.The summit was originally scheduled for June 10-12 at the presidential retreat of Camp David, Maryland.In March, however, the US government cancelled the arrangement because of the COVID-19 pandemic and scheduled a video conference instead.
--IANS ksk/