Before the meeting of the state leaders this Thursday and Friday in Hanover, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) called for a fairer distribution of the refugees. “Of course we need more solidarity from the countries,” said Wüst in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin” on Thursday. “Above all, we also need the commitment of the federal government in Europe,” said the North Rhine-Westphalia boss with a view to the simultaneous meeting of the heads of state and government of the EU states in Brussels with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).
Scholz is therefore absent from the Prime Ministers’ Conference (MPK) in Lower Saxony. In Brussels, the Chancellor should campaign on the refugee issue “that there is also solidarity in Europe. Because what the local authorities are reporting here is that they are at the limit of their capacities.”
NRW is the federal state in Germany that has taken in the most refugees from Ukraine. “As countries, we are currently creating additional capacities everywhere,” emphasized Wüst. However, it is not the best instrument to use large halls for this purpose. “Especially not for women who come with small children. It would be better if we distributed the people in Europe better. Then we would better meet these people and their needs.”
The CDU politician welcomed the Federal Chancellor’s word of power regarding the longer term of the three German nuclear power plants until April 2023 to secure energy requirements. “It’s good that the federal government has now taken these decisions – with far too much fanfare, far too late. But the federal government is responsible for that itself,” criticized Wüst. Otherwise you would have had a power problem. “If we manage to produce as little electricity as possible with gas, preferably not at all, then we’ve really done something with the price effect.” NRW is also making an important contribution here with the coal-fired power plants, which, in view of the climate goals, would have been better taken off the grid, said the Prime Minister.
