Status: 05.09.2021 4:57 p.m.
How is the reconstruction proceeding in the areas devastated by the floods? Chancellor Merkel and Prime Minister Laschet got an idea of the situation on site today. Both emphasized that there was progress – and that there was still a lot to be done.
It has been two months since parts of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate were devastated by the floods. Although the worst damage has now been repaired, the places affected and the people who live there are still a long way from normal.
Today, Chancellor Merkel and North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Armin Laschet got an idea of the clean-up work and the reconstruction. In Schalksmühle in the Sauerland, Merkel first met the colleagues of two firefighters who died in the flood – the press was not allowed to the conversation. The head of the local fire brigade, however, called the visit afterwards a “special gift”.
Respect and praise for the helpers
Merkel and Laschet, for their part, were impressed by the work of the firefighters in the subsequent press conference: Laschet emphasized that the firefighters were volunteers who “serve the community – and some of whom have lost their lives”. The fact that the women and men now carry on anyway – even in the face of “unimaginable” human fates – deserves great respect from him, says Laschet.
The priority now is that “the people affected can soon be able to live in their own four walls again,” said Laschet. Everything is now being done to restore the destroyed infrastructure. “All efforts must be directed towards this,” said Laschet. At the same time, however, he also highlighted the help for the affected companies – in North Rhine-Westphalia alone, 2000 companies were affected by the flood. It is in the interests of politics that these companies can work again soon – and that people who have already lost their belongings are not also without a job.
“The country stands together”
The flood disaster also shows that Germany is not disintegrating, but rather stands together in times of need, Laschet explained: The federal and state governments will decide on the 30 billion aid package next week – the states that are not affected by the damage will also take part. Reconstruction is a “task for society as a whole” and is understood that way.
Afterwards, Merkel also emphasized that help had to be provided quickly and unbureaucratically. Authorities and politicians at the local level are particularly important because they know best how and where the aid money should be used. Merkel also made it clear: “We still have a lot of work to do”. Reconstruction will therefore also have to be a core task of the coming federal government.
Election campaign a minor matter?
The Chancellor was clearly trying to leave the stage to the campaigner and father of the country, Laschet. For his part, he tried several times to avoid the impression that he wanted to make political capital out of the visit. “This is not about campaigning today,” he said. At least Merkel could not do without it: Anyone who successfully leads a large federal state like North Rhine-Westphalia, especially during the crisis, “can also lead the Federal Republic of Germany”, the Chancellor attested to her future successor.