Response to the Russian war
Manuela Schwesig wants to dissolve the controversial foundation for the construction of Nord Stream 2
Manuela Schwesig, Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
© Jens Büttner / Picture Alliance
In view of the war in Ukraine, Manuela Schwesig reverses relations with Russia. The Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania wants to dissolve the controversial Nord Stream Foundation.
The climate and environmental protection MV had been criticized from the start. The state foundation was established in early 2021 for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Now Manuela Schwesig, Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (MV), has announced the dissolution of the controversial foundation. “I have asked the board of the foundation to let the work of the foundation rest and to initiate the dissolution of the foundation within the narrow legal possibilities,” she wrote on Twitter on Monday morning. It should also be checked “whether it is legally possible to use the foundation funds made available by Nord Stream for humanitarian purposes”.
Most recently, Schwesig had repeatedly campaigned vehemently for the completion and rapid commissioning of the gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea and founded a highly controversial state foundation to support the pipeline construction. This climate and environmental foundation is mainly financed by the Russian state-owned company Gazprom.
The foundation was criticized by the German Environmental Aid (DUH), among others. “The MV Climate and Environmental Protection Foundation was never about climate protection, but about supporting the completion of the Nord Stream 2 fossil gas pipeline. We therefore always have the recognition of the foundation by the Mecklenburg-Western Pomeranian Ministry of Justice for an abuse of the common good Foundation law and demand that it be withdrawn immediately,” said DUH Managing Director Müller-Kraenne to NDR last week.
After the escalation in the Ukraine conflict, the German government put the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline on hold last Tuesday.
Manuela Schwesig: “Deeply disappointed and appalled”
The end of the foundation is not the only conclusion Schwesig is drawing from the war in Ukraine. Your federal state maintains close ties with Russia. “In recent years we have focused on dialogue and exchange with Russia in business, science, culture and between young people from both countries. The current development is all the more painful for us,” writes Schwesig. “Like many others who have been committed to good cooperation with Russia, I am deeply disappointed and appalled.”
Schwesig calls the Russian invasion of Ukraine a “brutal attack on a neighboring country, a clear violation of international law and unjustifiable by anything.” Russian President Vladimir Putin bears sole responsibility for this.
With the invasion of Ukraine, cooperation at the regional level became impossible. “We have therefore put the partnership with the Leningrad Oblast on hold. All other activities of the state government in the direction of Russia will also be discontinued,” Schwesig continued. There will be no more Russia Days in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for the foreseeable future. The focus this year is the Baltic Sea Day, which focuses on Poland and Scandinavia.
The work of the honorary representative of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will be suspended. The German-Russian partnership association is asked to join in and also to let its work rest.
Manuela Schwesig rejects allegations
The Prime Minister also defended herself against allegations that the government described as Putin friends or Putin understanders. “I want to say very clearly: This is nonsense. I have never had a conversation with President Putin or supported his actions against Ukraine.”
Just last week, Schwesig failed at the first attempt to have the Hamburg CDU chairman Christoph Ploß banned from making a statement about their supposed attitude towards Nord Stream 2 and Russia (the star reported). Schwesig saw her rights violated by a verbal attack by the CDU politician on the ZDF talk show “Markus Lanz” in early February. With regard to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Ploß claimed that Schwesig said about Russian aggression against Ukraine: “These violations of international law don’t interest me. The main thing is that the pipeline goes into operation.” Schwesig denied having made such a statement and had taken legal action against Ploß. After the decision, government spokesman Andreas Timm announced that the reasoning of the court would be examined and then a decision made as to whether an appeal should be lodged.
The state parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania meets on Tuesday for a special session on the war in Ukraine. Manuela Schwesig cannot take part as a result of an operation. She therefore comments on the current situation on Twitter.
She knows that many citizens want peaceful coexistence “with all our neighbors in the Baltic Sea region. Also with Russia. I too think it is right not to burn all bridges,” she writes in her detailed contribution and ends with the sentences: “But there is no justification for a war of aggression. And that’s why our first demand is that Putin immediately stops the war and withdraws from Ukraine.”
Swell: Twitter, NDRwith material from the dpa