As Germany holds the rotating leadership fo the SNMG2 force, it was understandable for von der Leyen to want a kind of ‘inspection tour’. The plan was that BONN would sail between Lesvos and the Turkish coast.

Minister Ursula von der Leyen would also show her people back home that she is in full command of the refugee flow..

Alas! The German Defense Minister made her calculations “without the doorman” as we say here in Greece.