Coming clean

German President Christian Wulff has admitted that statements he gave to state lawmakers in Lower Saxony may have given the "wrong impression" about his business relationship with businessman Egon Geerkens and his wife.

"It would have been better if I had mentioned a private contract I had with Mrs. Geerkens during questioning by members of the Lower Saxony parliament," Wulff said on Thursday. "I had and have nothing to hide in this matter."

Wulff has faced criticism this week after it was revealed he had accepted a private mortgage loan from Edith Geerkens in 2008 during his time as state premier in Lower Saxony. Under questioning by members of the opposition Green party in 2010, Wulff said he did not have a business relationship with Egon Geerkens but did not mention the business relationship with Geerkens' wife.

For the sake of clarity

He maintains that while it would have been better to bring up the private loan for the sake of clarity, he had done nothing wrong.

Wulff and his wife entered into the loan agreement with Edith Geerkens in 2008 to finance a house. The loan was for 500,000 euro ($665,000), and the interest rate was four percent. Bank loans at the time carried an interest rate of about five percent, according to the German Bild newspaper, which broke the story.

According to Wulff, he then took on a bank loan in 2010 at a lower interest rate and paid back the personal loan to Geerkens.

To achieve further transparency, Wulff said he would make all documents pertaining to the loan available for the media at a lawyer's office.

A senior figure in the opposition Social Democrats, Thomas Oppermann, welcomed the statement by the president. "Anyone can make a mistake," he said.

Author: Matt Zuvela (dpa, Reuters)
Editor: Michael Lawton