The clip was shared after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to India between October 24 to 26 (archived link).
Several cabinet ministers — including Baerbock — travelled with Scholz to attend the inter-governmental talks with India.
During the visit, Germany promised to dramatically boost the number of skilled Indians it permits to work in the country — an agreement that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed as an economic boon to both countries (archived link).
The two countries, however, diverge over ties with Russia and its war in Ukraine. While Germany strongly backs Kyiv, Modi attended a summit where he embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The clip was shared elsewhere on X here, as well as on Facebook here and here that made the same claim.
The video, however, was filmed in Malaysia in January 2024.
Southeast Asia tour
A reverse image search using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to similar footage posted on the website of the dpa Picture-Alliance on January 12, 2024 (archived link).
Its description says it shows Baerbock arriving at Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the falsely shared video (left) and the dpa Picture-Alliance video (right):
The German embassy in Kuala Lumpur also published photos and video of the visit on its official Instagram page (archived links here and here).
Baerbock visited the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore during a tour of Southeast Asia in January 2024 (archived link).
Prior to her departure, she described Malaysia as Germany’s most significant trading partner in Southeast Asia and hoped to use the visit to “better understand the perspective of a Muslim-majority country on the war in the Middle East as well as to expound our position”.
AFP previously debunked a similar false claim the clip showed the Germany foreign minister arriving in China.
The German Information Centre for Southeast Asia — a diplomacy initiative of Germany’s federal foreign office — responded to both claims on October 29, saying the clip was “taken out of context” and its spread was an example of how easily misinformation spreads on social media (archived link).
It added that “due to a misunderstanding the plane stopped a bit away from the indicated parking position”.
“The minister took some steps towards the welcome committee and was warmly greeted by the Malaysian protocol and our Ambassador to Malaysia”.
Baerbock, on a previous trip to India in March 2023, was embroiled in a similar discussion when she appeared to have been given the “cold shoulder” on her arrival (archived link).
The German ambassador clarified at the time that the misunderstanding was “entirely a German problem”, caused by Baerbock leaving her plane before a receiving line had been formed.
