Chancellor Scholz condemns the attack on Tesla’s power supply in Grünheide in Brandenburg. He says how he feels about the expansion plans and whether the attack has consequences for investors.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) supports the planned expansion of US electric car maker Tesla’s only European factory in Grünheide near Berlin.
Scholz told the “Märkische Allgemeine” that he hopes that Tesla will develop just as well in Brandenburg as Ford did in Cologne, whose factory has existed there for almost 100 years and where the partnership between the company and the city offers a perspective for the future. “That’s why I’m in favor of further expanding the plant.”
Tesla wants to double its planned production of 500,000 cars per year, currently estimated at around 300,000 cars. Environmentalists and residents have serious concerns about it because the plant is partly located in a water protection area. There are currently protests by environmental activists against a planned expansion with a freight station and logistics areas.
The Chancellor condemned the attack on Tesla’s power supply and urged clarification. “That was a terrorist act,” said Scholz. “Police and security authorities must do everything they can to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.” At the beginning of March, previously unknown perpetrators set fire to an electricity pylon that is part of the Tesla factory’s power supply. Due to a power outage, car production was on hold for almost a week. The left-wing extremist “Vulkan Group” said it was responsible for the attack. The Federal Prosecutor General is investigating.
Scholz: The attack has not deterred investors so far
Scholz has not yet seen any negative consequences for investments in Germany as a business location after the attack. “I have no indication that investors will be deterred by this,” Scholz told the newspaper. “I have just broken the ground for a large battery factory in Schleswig-Holstein. It involves several billion in investments. I will soon be involved in a large pharmaceutical investment of a similar size.”
As a consequence of the attack, he is calling for greater protection of important facilities. “We see that we need to better protect our infrastructure. This is primarily about cybersecurity,” said the Chancellor. “We must take the dangers to our security infrastructure posed by hackers very seriously. We have taken initial measures with regard to the public infrastructure. And we require everyone who operates networks and hospitals, ports and transport companies to also ensure their protection increase.”
Source: Stern
