Frankfurt / Main (dpa / lhe) – Before the Prime Ministers’ Conference in Hanover, Hesse’s Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) pushed for progress. “My demand is: We have to make progress this Thursday and Friday,” Rhein told Hit Radio FFH on Wednesday. “We have to get the matter moving now. We can’t just continue to advise, but the citizens now want to see that something is moving.” The federal government must now “jump”, it must now be done quickly.
The 16 heads of government of the federal states will meet in Hanover on Thursday for the conference. The focus is on consultations on how to proceed in the energy crisis. In addition, financing the accommodation of refugees should be an issue, as well as a follow-up solution for a nationwide local transport ticket. The talks will continue on Friday, when Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) will also be there.
With a view to Hesse, Rhein demanded, among other things, “the fulfillment of the promises for refugee financing” from the federal government. In addition, he wanted “clear decisions on public transport tickets and, thirdly, I expect that we will now work out a solution for citizens and in the end we will also have a solution for the energy prices that are oppressive to all of them”.
The presidency of Lower Saxony dampened expectations of the meeting: “As important as these consultations are, final decisions cannot be made there, but probably only at the next conference with the Federal Chancellor. Such a meeting should follow as soon as possible,” said Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Because (SPD) the dpa. A date for this has not yet been set.