Bergen (dpa/mv) – Once again, the mayors of Rügen have sent a letter to the state and federal governments addressing demands in connection with the energy crisis. One does not see that the previous efforts were sufficient to ensure the energy supply in winter, said Bergen Mayor Anja Ratzke (independent) on Monday evening. She had previously presented the letter in Bergen with the mayor of Binz, Karsten Schneider (also independent).
Some demands, such as an energy price cap, have meanwhile also been taken up by the state government. In a first position paper from mid-July, the use of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was also proposed. “You can’t miss an option,” said Ratzke in this regard on Monday. The Rostock-based political scientist Wolfgang Muno recently described such demands as populist and said that they were fishing on the “murky edge of the right”. In the recent letter, the authors opposed right-wing populism.
Ratzke said that Germany is not doing enough to mediate between Russia and Ukraine. The letter calls for the immediate start of diplomatic negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to end the war and end sanctions.
“We are very concerned about the negative developments in all areas of our country, the associated uncertainty, the greatest burden and also the division of our population,” it said. Germany will knowingly be reset to the status of a developing country in the shortest possible time. Securing the energy supply for the citizens and the full assumption of the costs that communities would incur to avert and prevent the consequences of the crisis are also demanded.
According to Ratzke, the majority of Rügen mayors also support the second position paper. The letter, which is again addressed to Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens), among others, also criticizes the lack of an answer to the first letter.
