Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) has offered the opposition CDU parliamentary group in the state parliament in the dispute over wind turbines before a possible scandal. The basis could be the emerging coalition agreement between the CDU and the Greens in North Rhine-Westphalia on the subject of renewable energy, said Ramelow of the German Press Agency in Erfurt. The dispute, which is about a 1000-meter distance rule for wind turbines in residential buildings, has made waves nationwide because of the announced support for the CDU plans by the AfD parliamentary group with boss Björn Höcke.
The background is that the opposition factions CDU and AfD as well as the FDP group can outvote Ramelow’s red-red-green minority coalition in the state parliament if they act together. Left, SPD and Greens are missing four votes for their own majority.
Ramelow spoke of a blueprint that black-green in North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein could deliver on the subject of renewable energies for Thuringia. “A good way will be described there and it currently also reflects the constraints that have arisen as a result of Russia’s ability to blackmail energy.” Thuringia’s Environment Minister Anja Siegesmund (Greens) of the CDU.
CDU faction leader Mario Voigt was open to talks. But the ball is in red-red-green. “It is absurd to accuse us of possible cooperation with the right-wing extremist Thuringian AfD, like some federal politicians from the SPD and the Greens,” said Voigt. He referred to his parliamentary group’s willingness to compromise in view of the difficult majority situation in the state parliament – two budgets had already been passed with CDU support.
“But Red-Red-Green must be just as able to compromise as we are,” said the opposition politician. This applies to the 1000-meter distance rule between wind turbines and residential buildings, which all other East German states already have. It had just been decided in Saxony with votes from the CDU, SPD and Greens. The group spokesman for the FDP in the state parliament, Thomas Kemmerich, also called for the distance rule. He accused Red-Red-Green of escalating factual issues.
Voigt also demanded that the minority coalition be able to compromise on the exemption from school fees for healthcare professionals, which his parliamentary group insists on. It is the subject of a special session of the state parliament this Wednesday. “I expect Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow that his government will immediately free up school fees for the healthcare professions,” said Voigt.
The CDU parliamentary group is politically in a bind with its push for wind power and free school fees because the AfD has signaled its support on both issues. “What is looming in Thuringia is alarming. This is not a matter for a federal state, ”explained the parliamentary manager of the SPD in the Bundestag, Katja Mast.
The CDU leadership did not want to comment on the case. A CDU spokesman told the Tagesspiegel: “The fundamental decision of our party congress still applies: any cooperation with the AfD is excluded. Irrespective of this, however, submitting your own motions is an elementary part of parliamentary work.”
