Thuringia’s head of government Bodo Ramelow (Left) has offered talks between government representatives from neighboring countries in the dispute with Bavaria over a new power line project. He hopes that there will be “a coordinated Thuringian-Bavarian approach,” says a letter from Ramelow to the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), which is available to the German Press Agency.
Ramelow wrote that he had asked the Thuringian Energy and Infrastructure Ministers Bernhard Stengele (Greens) and Susanna Karawanskij (Left Party) to invite the Bavarian Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters) and the head of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, “to a short-term appointment.” Söder. In addition, a joint cabinet meeting in the affected border area is conceivable.
The Munich “Abendzeitung” first reported on the letter. Ramelow reiterated his criticism of Bavaria’s actions. From his point of view, it can be ruled out that Thuringia would accept a diversion of a 380 KV line from Schalkau via the Heldburger Unterland towards Grafenrheinfeld, which could be described as the “Aiwanger arc”, according to the letter. According to Ramelow, alternatives that he sees need to be examined.
Thuringia’s Energy Minister Stengele had already announced a need for discussions about the P540 route proposed by Bavaria, which partly runs through southern Thuringia. Alternatives to the variant brought into discussion by Bavaria should be discussed. This could be a bundling requirement or the priority of expanding a line over building a new one. Thuringia had criticized the lack of agreements, Ramelow had spoken of audacity at the beginning of the week.