When it comes to Russia, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania always worked hard. The former SPD head of government handled it that way, and so did his successor. That could fall on Manuela Schwesig’s feet.
The winner’s smile has disappeared from Manuela Schwesig’s face.
In September’s state elections, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister led the Social Democrats to a resounding success, cementing power in the state and consolidating her own position in the leadership of the SPD. A good six months and many thousands of Russian shells and rockets on the Ukraine later, Schwesig is in need of an explanation.
“Putin’s helper”, “Gazprom’s henchman” – these are just two of the many headlines about the 47-year-old recently. The prime minister from Schwerin, who until recently seemed unassailable, now has to fear for her office in the state chancellery. There have also been calls for her resignation. “If the circumstances recently described in the media are true, then Ms. Schwesig cannot remain in office; That’s completely out of the question,” said Norbert Röttgen, member of the Bundestag and CDU foreign affairs expert, to the editorial network Germany (RND, Sunday).
Accommodating action
The former Federal Minister for Family Affairs is now receiving the reward for her very accommodating behavior towards Russia for a long time. She had vehemently defended the construction of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea natural gas pipeline, through which more Russian gas was to flow to Germany while bypassing the Ukraine, against all criticism from home and abroad: one must keep in touch with Russia and gas is an important one Bridging technology, she kept saying. An argument with which Schwesig was not alone among politicians and which, according to surveys, was also supported by the majority of the population in the northeast for a long time.
But not only verbally did she side with Russia. At the beginning of 2021, a foundation was set up in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to help complete the pipeline despite threats of US sanctions. As documents that have now become public show, Nord Stream 2 AG, with the Russian state-owned company Gazprom as the majority shareholder, was directly involved in the preparations for the foundation. Interior Minister Christian level (SPD) admitted that as Energy Minister at the time, he was in regular contact with Nord Stream 2 while working on the statutes and incorporated the company’s wishes.
Nord Stream 2 in the center
Schwesig also admitted that there were talks, but dismissed reports that Nord Stream 2 had been in charge of founding the foundation. “We made our own decisions in the state government and in the state parliament and nobody else.” The initiative for the foundation came from the level. The opposition now suspects that the minister could become the “pawn sacrifice”.
According to documents from the State Chancellery, from which the “Welt am Sonntag” quoted and which are also available to the dpa, there was an “argument paper” about the foundation. Government spokesman Andreas Timm emphasized that this paper was drawn up by the State Chancellery and the Ministry of Energy in a mutual exchange and “was not commissioned from Nord Stream”. Irrespective of this, Nord Stream has been sending argumentation papers to the government since the end of November 2020. Since the mail addressees were mostly blacked out in the documents, it is not clear whether Nord Stream was informed about the status of the processing and directly involved.
The presentation that the former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) initiated the foundation is contradicted in various papers. But there were several meetings between Schwesig and Schröder, a longtime confidante of Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin with posts in Russian state-owned companies.
In mid-January, when Russia’s troops were already on the border with Ukraine, Schwesig was still campaigning for Nord Stream 2: “I hope for a speedy, rule-of-law procedure so that the line can go into operation,” she said before the German Eastern Committee Business. Shortly thereafter, the federal government stopped the approval process.
Like many other politicians, Schwesig had to admit that her strategy had failed at this point at the latest. «With today’s knowledge, sticking with Nord Stream 2 and setting up the Climate and Environment Foundation was a mistake. A mistake that I also made, »conceded the SPD politician in front of the state parliament. But the opposition continues to accuse her of continuing to cooperate with Russia despite all warnings.
convene a committee of inquiry
At the instigation of the CDU, FDP and Greens, a committee of inquiry is now being set up in the state parliament, which will deal in detail with the Mecklenburg-Western Pomeranian Foundation for Climate and Environmental Protection from May onwards. In other words, the foundation that was primarily intended to promote climate projects, but at the same time included an economic part managed by Nord Stream, which promoted the completion of the gas pipeline. The German environmental aid spoke of a “camouflage organization” and called Schwesig “gas lobbyist”.
The state contributed 200,000 euros for the foundation, 20 million euros for Nord Stream 2. So far, only a fraction has flowed into environmental projects. The government and the board of directors of the foundation are silent on how much money was spent on the pipeline construction via the foundation and whether a ship was also bought with it. The committee should now shed some light on the matter.
CDU federal director Mario Czaja told the “Spiegel”: “The investigative committee in Schwerin must now quickly clarify how much Manuela Schwesig has been or is still being exploited for the interests of Russia and what consequences must be drawn from it.” A prime minister cannot be a “Putin lobbyist” at the same time.
Legal action possible
The Greens in the state parliament, co-initiators of the committee of inquiry, are also considering legal action against Schwesig. In response to a Minor Inquiry, not all meetings and correspondence with Nord Stream officials were disclosed. “Manuela Schwesig’s behavior is a danger to democracy,” complained MP Hannes Damm. The Prime Minister is trying to protect herself with continued lack of transparency towards Parliament, but in doing so she is disregarding the central rights of the MPs.
The committee of inquiry will also deal with the role of Schwesig’s predecessor and sponsor Erwin Sellering. In 2014, the year of the annexation of Crimea, the SPD politician launched a “Russia Day” in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which Schwesig continued. He took over the chairmanship of the foundation a good year ago – and against Schwesig’s will, he is sticking to the idea of dissolving the foundation. Even this should not help the head of government’s facial features brighten up anytime soon.
Source: Stern
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