Better train connections, more student exchanges, nationwide 5 G: The Social Democrats give the Prime Minister a to-do list.
Before the visit of Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) in Prague on Thursday, the SPD gave him a wish list in the state parliament. “There is no shortage of declarations of intent as far as improved relations with our eastern neighbor are concerned. But little has happened,” said Markus Rinderspacher on Monday, the SPD parliamentary group’s European policy spokesman and vice-president of the state parliament. Faster train connections to Prague, more student exchanges, scholarships, more municipal partnerships and a nationwide 5G network in the border region – with these ideas “the relations between Bavaria and the Czech Republic, which have cooled down a bit in the meantime, should finally be filled with life again”.
Example rail: The connection, said Rinderspacher, is still “like in the days of emperors or kings”, although express trains for the people of both countries would be appropriate; but progress is also needed in freight transport with a view to the Danube port of Regensburg and the Vltava port of Prague as important loading points. Therefore, if necessary, the Free State would have to make financial advance payments to accelerate the expansion of the route and electrification in eastern Bavaria.
Seehofer warmed up the contacts again
Only a little over a decade ago, the relationship between Bavaria and the Czech Republic was revitalized. Mainly because of the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans after the war, the neighborhood was tense for a long time. Prime Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) initiated the end of the “Ice Age” during a historic visit in 2010. The Free State later opened its own representative office in the Czech capital, which reports directly to the State Chancellery.
Söder, in turn, had promised intensive maintenance of the contact. He announced his visit to Prague at the beginning of June at the Sudeten German Day in Hof. Among other things, he wants to meet Prime Minister Petr Fiala (Citizens’ Democrats). His pro-Europe course is very much appreciated in political Munich. In 2020, however, the corona pandemic and its border controls clouded the coexistence of the neighbors again.
Söder should also talk about nuclear waste
As a lesson learned from the friction during the pandemic, proposals for better cooperation have recently come from the CSU – for example the establishment of a “coordinator” who should ensure a direct line between Munich, the border regions and Prague and who could be based in the State Chancellery. The authors of a comprehensive concept for the neighborhood were the Chamer state parliament member Gerhard Hopp and Christian Doleschal, MEP and head of the Junge Union. On Monday, Hopp also referred to a motion recently passed in the state parliament, according to which the state government should use leeway from the EU’s Corona Aid Fund to strengthen the border regions.
Rinderspacher also asked Söder to talk about the “sensitive issue” of nuclear waste; Plans for final storage in the neighboring country not far from the Bavarian border had caused resentment. In view of the strained energy supply, it would be good to convince Prague of “the future technologies of the 21st century”.