Everyone on the city council reacts almost identically, all but one. Nicola Holtmann from the ÖDP puts his finger on a sore spot in the city of Munich, disrupting harmony after the speech by Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kiev. Affected by his report, all city councilors promise continued solidarity and thank all the helpers who take care of taking in the refugees. Until then the speaker of the ÖDP attacked Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) briefly but violently. It’s about coal and gas from Russia.
Reiter has previously endorsed Klitschko, who is promoting a complete economic embargo on Russia. But, “as you know, that’s not the job of a mayor and a city council,” but of the federal government. As far as the city of Munich is concerned, Reiter assures his colleague during the war: “In Munich we have no economic relations whatsoever with Russia.”
This prompts Holtmann to contradict: “Is irritated” by Reiter’s statement: “That’s not true. We can’t lie to ourselves like that.” The city must “take hold of its own nose”. Holtmann demands that the city no longer install gas heating in its own areas and that it completely forego gas and coal from Russia. To this, Reiter replies sharply. He wanted to “make it clear”: In the Economic Committee, Florian Bieberbach, manager of the public utility company, “explained very precisely” that SWM was doing everything possible to “avoid” business relations with Russia. In the future, Holtmann should “get smart” before she comments, says Reiter, “that could be helpful”.
Who is right? Last week, the technical director of the municipal utility, Helge-Uve Braun, said: “We are not in a position to say immediately that we can do without Russian coal.” For technical reasons and because of emission protection, the coal mix used cannot simply be changed, says Braun. “We are in the process of intensively discussing with our suppliers where we can procure coal.”
“It won’t fail because of money, it shouldn’t fail because of money.”
What is correct now? What does SWM Managing Director Braun or Mayor Reiter say about the top SWM boss? When asked by SZ, an SWM spokeswoman said that “there was no contradiction whatsoever”: “SWM has no business or trading relationships with Russian companies.” Gas and coal are obtained through middlemen, who in turn get some of the materials from Russia. It is not known exactly how high the proportion of Russian gas is. More details are known about the coal: half of the material burned in block 2 of the thermal power station north comes from Russia. “SWM is already working intensively on activating alternative sources of supply for the coal, but this will only take effect with a delay of a few months.” The spokeswoman said it would be possible to do without Russian coal after a transitional period. Gas should be decided at federal and European level.
The conclusion: Reiter did not tell the Kiev mayor an untruth. If the mayor had admitted that Munich burns gas and coal from Russia, but that they wanted to change that quickly, he would have been more honest.
Beyond the quarrel between Mayor and Holtmann, there is agreement in the plenary: Florian Roth (Greens) promises the refugees and the helpers further support “The money will not fail, the money should not fail.” Anne Hübner (SPD) says that it will take a lot of patience to help and thanks the thousands of volunteers: “I think there are more than ever before.” Andreas Babor (CSU) offers the town hall the support of his party: “It’s time to stand together. Together we can do it.” Thomas Lechner (left) appeals to use the current solidarity to raise awareness and to help all refugees, including students, no matter where they were born. Jörg Hoffmann (FDP) recalls the value of the European Union and pleads for an energy embargo against Russia: “It must not fail because of the money.” Here he meets Nicola Holtmann from the ÖDP: They hope for a great deal of unity in response to Russia’s attack, both on social issues and on the energy issue.