CDU leader Friedrich Merz has called for the resignation of Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) in connection with the affair surrounding the climate foundation in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. “If it were about a CDU man, he would no longer be in office,” said the CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader in the German Bundestag of the “Westfalenpost” (Thursday).
Schwesig’s resignation is months overdue. “What happened there is an unbelievable process, but all the details are only gradually becoming public.” Every publication only makes things worse, because there is nothing exonerating about it. “The fact that this foundation still exists and that the predecessor (Erwin) Sellering is now starting an open clinch with Ms. Schwesig shows how things are getting completely out of hand on the SPD side,” said Merz. He suspects that Schwesing will not be able to stay in office much longer.
The MV Climate Foundation has been criticized for supporting the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The construction of the pipeline was completed, but it did not go into operation due to Russian aggression against Ukraine.
The general secretary of the SPD in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Julian Barlen, accused Merz of distracting from his own responsibility and spoke of “transparent dirt campaigns”. “It was the federal government of CDU Chancellor Angela Merkel that supported the construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline for many years,” said Barlen. In its government responsibility, the CDU was instrumental in getting the Climate and Environmental Protection Foundation off the ground. The foundation was set up by the state in early 2021.