German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday canceled a visit to the United States to focus on the arrest of an army officer suspected of planning a racially motivated attack, the ministry said, Reuters reported.
Von der Leyen had planned to travel to New York and Washington on Wednesday and Thursday for meetings with U.N. officials and U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis.
"The minister's top priority is to clear up the circumstances in the case of First Lieutenant A. from Illkirch," the ministry said in a statement, referring to the French town south of Strasbourg where the officer was stationed with a German army brigade.
