Latest news with #MecklenburgVorpommern
Irish Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Nord Stream saga shows German leaders' magical thinking and economical approach to the truth
Gerhard Schröder looked every bit the elder statesman, and in no way a political pariah, when he appeared this week in Lower Saxony's state parliament in Hanover . The 81-year-old ex-chancellor, lawyer and Russian energy lobbyist has been suffering from burnout, according to his doctor. But Tuesday's election of a new Lower Saxon state premier – a role Schröder filled for eight years until his election as chancellor in 1998 – was a special occasion worth rallying for. 'I'm still here,' joked a grinning Schröder. Where Schröder still isn't is at a parliamentary inquiry into the Nord Stream gas pipelines. READ MORE One of Schröder's final acts as chancellor was to green light Nord Stream 1, two 1,200km-long pipelines carrying Russian natural gas under the Baltic Sea. After leaving office Schröder, a close friend of Russian president Vladimir Putin , joined one of the pipeline consortium's supervisory boards. Since then the Hanover-based lawyer has doubled as a lobbyist for Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom. Though he has condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine , he has held back in his criticism of Putin and, as a result, many people actively avoid him. Not so in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the pipelines made land in Germany A state parliamentary committee extended an invitation to Schröder to explain his version of the Nord Stream drama. Its last act to date was a series of unexplained explosions in September 2022 that damaged three of the four undersea pipelines. Rather than answer questions in person, Schröder said in a letter leaked this week that he was too ill to attend the inquiry – at least until the end of the year. Instead of personal testimony he sent the parliamentary investigation a four-page written overview of why he 'was and remains positive' towards the gas pipelines. 'During my time as chancellor it was always clear to me that Germany is an industrial country lacking raw materials, whose prosperity can only be increased and maintained if it is, and remains, competitive on global markets,' he wrote. 'This was always rational and of benefit for Germany and these decisions did not become wrong through the terrible war in Ukraine.' The ex-chancellor signed off his letter by wishing the committee 'lots of success with its research into, and the free and fair assessment of, the historical truth'. While the inquiry has no powers to compel him to attend, several media investigations have exposed the magical thinking – and economical approach to the truth – that characterised many German political leaders' approach to Nord Stream. Government files released to the Süddeutsche Zeitung daily, for instance, show just how deeply Angela Merkel was involved in the geopolitics of – and EU lobbying for – the second, Nord Stream 2, project. This despite her mantrathat the pipeline – majority controlled by Gazprom with involvement of energy companies Shell, Eon and others – was a private, commercial endeavour. Files show how Merkel chancellery officials worked steadily and silently to smooth Nord Stream 2's political path, against considerable political opposition from the European Commission and Germany's eastern neighbours. Throughout the Nord Stream files, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports, are handwritten remarks and questions by Merkel in green chancellor ink. The chancellery's interest in pursuing the project remained considerable and consistent even after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in March 2014. In July 2015, as Nord Stream 2 began to take shape, officials told Merkel the project 'is to be welcomed, from both a German and Europe perspective'. 'From a position of energy policy, Germany cannot afford to take a position against Nord Stream [2],' the officials wrote. Merkel was informed of – and apparently backed – efforts by German officials in Brussels to prevent greater involvement of the European Commission. The commission took a critical stance on the bilateral project after taking on board concerns of Poland and Ukraine. In particular they argued that all such pipelines gave Moscow even greater leverage to meets its western European energy contractual requirements while opening potential to use energy as a weapon by throttling deliveries in the east. Chancellery officials warned Merkel that it was crucial to quell growing dissent, but that being too obvious about it 'could be interpreted as intervention for Nord Stream' – with the real risk of political blowback for Merkel and her claim not to be involved. In a handwritten note from January 25th, 2018, she asked officials to 'put together the requested material' on finding allies to work together on tackling the commission. Rather than openly oppose the commission, chancellery officials decided on a strategy of 'critical questioning ... to avoid possible political damage from an early, public rejection'. Merkel was also involved in granting the state guarantee sought by the Nord Stream 2 consortium in 2018. Rather than appear to be handing Putin a multibillion gift in advance of talks, she backed a plan to postpone political assessment of the guarantee application until after their meeting. [ As NordStream operator fights legal action in Europe, speculation of US-Russian pipeline partnership grows Opens in new window ] Asked how her hands-on Nord Stream approach, indicated by the traces of green ink in the files, tallies with her hands-off narrative, Merkel's office replied that 'the files ... are in the chancellery, please direct your questions to the chancellery'.
Times
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
German police arrest suspected neo-Nazi teenagers
German police have arrested five teenagers suspected of belonging to a neo-Nazi group that has been recruiting members via social media and committing arson attacks against immigrants to 'flush the muck out of our nation'. The five boys, aged 14 to 18, were arrested in raids on 13 sites in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Hesse on Wednesday morning. Three further suspects aged 18 to 21 are already in custody. The suspects were accused of being members of the terrorist group Letzte Verteidigungswelle (Last Wave of Defence), which was formed in April last year. Raids had also been made last week on another extremist group, the Kingdom of Germany, as part of a crackdown on far-right groups. Figures released on Wednesday showed a 48 per cent
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
East German leader demands action from Berlin on reviving economy
The state premier of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has called on the new government of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to take decisive action to kick start the sluggish economy. "No economic growth for the third year in a row – that's not acceptable," said Manuela Schwesig, of the centre-left Social Democrats, at the opening of the annual East German Economic Forum, this time in the town of Bad Saarow. Schwesig identified lower energy prices, increased investment and reduced bureaucracy as key priorities, emphasizing that getting Europe's biggest economy back on track should the top political goal. In addition to permanently offering affordable energy for both businesses and consumers, she urged the federal government to introduce "fair grid fees that reward regions investing in renewable energy rather than penalising them." At the three-day conference, business leaders are to discuss the challenges facing eastern Germany as a business location with members of Merz's new conservative-led coalition government. Companies have long complained about high energy costs, a shortage of skilled workers, heavy tax and social security burdens and excessive bureaucracy.
