Germany’s Habeck Defends Top Energy Official Accused of Nepotism

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said he’s standing by a deputy accused of nepotism even as he admitted the episode had been a damaging distraction for the government.

Opposition lawmakers have called for Patrick Graichen, an economy ministry state secretary on whom Habeck relies heavily in setting energy policy, to be removed from his post after it emerged that he was on a committee that appointed the best man at his wedding, Michael Schaefer, as head of Germany’s Dena Energy Agency.