Westerwelle takes partner on official Asia visit (Feature)

By Christoph Sator Jan 15, 2010, 10:42 GMT

Beijing - The unobtrusive 43-year-old in his pinstripe suit and dark-blue overcoat could pass for just another of the diplomats in German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle's entourage.

But Michael Mronz is no diplomat. He is a marketing manager by profession and the minister's partner.

The current Asian trip by Westerwelle, the world's only openly gay foreign minister, marks the first time he has been accompanied by Mronz on a longer official visit. Two previous trips to Stockholm and Rome were only a few hours long and included no major formal events.

This time, however, Mronz's name even features on the four-day trip's official schedule, as is customary for a visiting dignitary's accompanying partner.

Four of the programme's 158 pages are dedicated to Mronz's itinerary, including a trip to a Tokyo contemporary art exhibition and a visit to the new National Museum under construction in Beijing, each time accompanied by the spouse of the local German ambassador.

Some members of Westerwelle's delegation dismiss the visits as 'spouse programme,' but Mronz doesn't seem to mind.

While he does not attend the diplomatic discussions, the protocol team have organized his participation in some of the official events.

At Tokyo's Meiji Shrine, one of the Shinto religion's holiest sites, Mronz joined Westerwelle for a New Year's purification ceremony, raising few if any eyebrows. The officiating priest is probably even now unaware of Mronz's precise status.

Which is all just fine with Westerwelle's partner of the past five years.

After the initial uproar over liberal politician's outing in the summer of 2004, their public appearances hardly received any attention in the national media.

The attitude toward the couple abroad is much the same, Mronz said.

'My role is not new; Mr Westerwelle's is,' he said of his relationship with the man appointed foreign minister after Germany's federal elections in October.

Unavoidably, the official partner of the world's only openly gay foreign minister comes under scrutiny from all sides. Many non-German newspapers wrote at length about the homosexuality of the Free Democratic Party's chairman after last year's elections.

The topic continued to rear its head in the media during his various inaugural visits as foreign minister. In Japan and China this week, however, media coverage of Westerwelle's private life has been restrained.

Mronz has no intention of joining his partner on every official trip. 'I simply have too much to do,' he said.

Schedules permitting, however, he would like to come along now and again, he said.

He was also quick to point out that the costs of the Asian trip is coming out of his own pocket.

'It's important to keep these things clearly separate, or it just wouldn't seem right,' he said.