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Against Merkel's will: Laschet, Bouffier and Co. loosen Christmas rules - summit compromise crumbles

2020-11-28T17:28:41.797Z


Angela Merkel and the prime ministers argued for seven long hours about the new corona rules. Now the first compromises are crumbling again.


Angela Merkel and the prime ministers argued for seven long hours about the new corona rules.

Now the first compromises are crumbling again.

  • As

    Angela Merkel * announced

    in a government statement, the

    partial lockdown

     to contain the

    corona pandemic will

    continue until at least December 20.

  • However

    , the

    contact

    restrictions are to be relaxed

    between

    Christmas

    and

    New Years

    (December 23 to January 1)

    .

    During this time, a maximum of ten people from any household may meet.

  • The

    new

    resolutions are

    partially criticized in the

    Bundestag

    .

Update of 27 November, 11.00:

DC

several states

go to the

corona crisis

on distance to the

wishes of the Chancellor's Office

.

Both

Berlin

and

Hesse

and

North Rhine-Westphalia

want

to allow hotel overnight stays at Christmas

, contrary to the wishes of Chancellor Helge Braun.

Anyone who goes on a trip with relatives “must have the chance to stay overnight somewhere”, said Hesse’s Prime Minister

Volker Bouffier

(CDU).

North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister

Armin Laschet

(CDU) and Berlin's Governing Mayor

Michael Müller

(SPD) declared that such overnight stays had no tourist purpose.

In

Schleswig-Holstein,

with its comparatively low number of infections, nail and cosmetic studios as well as massage parlors and zoos can reopen from Monday.

CSU General Secretary Markus Blume

, meanwhile, praised the decision of the Berlin Senate

to forego

general

relaxation of the contact

restrictions for Christmas

.

"I think it's good that some countries like Bavaria have set about sharpening - and especially Berlin, which is one of the big hotspots in the republic," said Blume on Friday in the

RTL

and

n-tv

show "Frühstart"

.

In Berlin, unlike in the other federal states, there will be no relaxation of the contact restrictions over the

Christmas days and the turn of the year

after a senate resolution

.

Blum's party leader

Markus Söder

caused a stir a few weeks ago when he saw the

Corona situation in Berlin

"on the verge of uncontrollability".

The statement also met with harsh criticism in Bavaria, as

Merkur.de

* reported.

On Thursday evening, however, Söder also said on ARD “Extra” that he would find it better if all countries stayed on the same line.

Bavaria announced some smaller special routes on Thursday.

Merkel's Corona summit: Christmas for Helge Braun “certain unknowns” - Spahn appeals to personal responsibility

Update from November 27th, 8:00 am:

According to Chancellor

Helge Braun

(CDU),

Christmas

as a “celebration of privacy” is

a “certain unknown” in risk assessment.

That said Brown on Thursday night in the

ZDF

telecast

"

Maybrit Illner" *.

"Whether we

are preparing for

Christmas

and living with the family in such a way that it becomes a contagion problem, or we achieve exactly the opposite - we really all have that in our own hands." The prerequisite for this is to keep contacts to an "absolute minimum" beforehand to reduce.

"Nobody wants to infect their loved ones and relatives."


Health Minister

Jens Spahn

also commented on the citizens' personal responsibility: "In the end, we can only use


state rules to force what is necessary in this

pandemic,

" he said on Thursday evening in a broadcast on

ARD

- "Extra".

After Corona summit with Merkel: Doubts about New Year's Eve easing of the Corona lockdown

Update from November 26, 5:39 p.m

.: One day after the corona resolutions by the federal and state governments,

Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus

expressed doubts about the easing planned for New Year's Eve.

"Whether we can actually keep the ten-person limit from several households also depends on how things will develop in December,"

Brinkhaus

told

SWR

on Thursday

with a view to the turn of the year.

For Christmas, however, he thinks the easing is justifiable.

Christmas is of great importance as a family festival and as a Christian solemn festival.

This does not apply to New Year's Eve.

"New Year's Eve is not family (...), New Year's Eve is a party," said

Brinkhaus

.

However, he also expressed doubts as to whether one could reliably decide on such rules now.

“I was amazed at the certainty with which the decisions were made at the Prime Minister's Conference - wherever they said we are already making a clear announcement about what will happen at

Christmas

or

New Year's Eve

.

I would have been a little more careful, ”said the CDU politician.

Corona summit: "Mr. Brinkhaus is wrong if he believes that the countries would not contribute to the costs of the pandemic"

Update from November 26th, 4 p.m.:

The

Finance Minister of Schleswig-Holstein

,

Monika Heinold

(Greens), sharply criticized the

Union faction leader Ralph Brinkhaus

.

He had previously criticized that the burden sharing between the federal and state governments was

not balanced

in the case of

corona financial aid

.

"The federal states get more than half of the tax revenue from the municipalities, and I expect the federal states to finally get involved financially in this matter and not just make decisions and then present the bill to the federal government," he commented. 

"Mr. Brinkhaus is wrong if he believes that the countries would not contribute to the costs of the pandemic," said

Heinold

on Thursday.

Schleswig-Holstein

alone

provides 5.5 billion euros in

corona emergency loans

.

Their verdict is clear: "Anyone who does not see the efforts of the federal states has to wear blinkers." Instead of criticizing the federal states, the coalition's own front door should be swept in Berlin.

Heinold

said that "a funding program that is based on sales without taking variable costs into account" would cost the state dearly and was not the idea of ​​the federal states.

Corona summit: Bitter assessment from Merkel's Chancellery - teachers' association criticized "imagined limit values"

Update from November 26th, 2.30 p.m.:

The

teachers' association

has

also

commented

on the new federal and state resolutions.

The

president of the association, Heinz-Peter Meidinger

, gives a mixed assessment of the measures affecting the schools.

He advocated that as an

incidence value

of 200 other

protective measures

at the

schools

are to be enforced.

However, this is only an “optional” provision.

Meidinger was

particularly

critical of

the fact that the

number of 200 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants stipulated

for

alternating lessons

within a week is much higher than the recommendation of the Robert Koch Institute.

His comment is clear: "It is questionable when politicians come up with their own numbers that no longer have anything to do with what the virologists say."

+

Angela Merkel and Markus Söder after the meeting of the Prime Ministers in Berlin.

© Photo: Odd Andersen / AFP / POOL / dpa

Meidinger

positively emphasized

that the federal and state governments

were able to agree

on minimum standards for

masks

in schools.

In addition to the decision that

alternating

lessons

can be carried out locally in schools in the event of a sharp increase in the number of cases, in future there will also be a

mask requirement

in

class from the seventh grade

onwards

.

In most federal states, the

mask requirement

was and still applies

in class from the fifth grade.

Meidinger sums up that the resolutions of the

Prime Ministers

and the

Chancellor are

a slight step forward, but the consistency is lacking.

After Merkel's corona summit: Armin Laschet defends corona resolutions against criticism

Update from November 26th, 1 p.m.: Armin Laschet

, Prime Minister of

North Rhine-Westphalia

, has defended the corona decisions of the federal and state governments against criticism.

The easing between

Christmas

and

New Year's Eve is

also due to the numerous shift workers who celebrated their days off during this period, said

Armin Laschet

on Thursday in the Düsseldorf state parliament.

He expects the

corona infections

to rise again after Christmas.

The daily incidence of new infections must be reduced by the holidays in order

to avoid exponential growth

at

Christmas

.

Minister of Culture

Monika Grütters

(CDU) has made positive comments about the definition of the

Corona summit

on

cultural institutions

.

Even if it is sad for many people that these have to remain closed, she rates Merkel's clarification as positive.

It was expressly stated for the first time that, because of the status of artistic freedom, which is also anchored in the Basic Law, businesses should open as soon as this is possible again, taking into account the infection situation.

That's what Grütters said on Thursday in Berlin.

"I very much welcome this important signal," said

Grütters

.

Helge Braun on corona lockdown: Merkel confidante with gloomy prognosis

Update from November 26th, 12.15 p.m.:

Chancellery Minister Helge Braun

(CDU) considers restrictions to be possible until March due to the

corona pandemic

.

“There are difficult winter months ahead of us.

That goes until March. ”That is what Braun said on Thursday in the

RTL program

“ Guten Morgen Deutschland ”.

With the beginning of spring it will be easier

to keep

the

corona infection

numbers low - and after March more and more people could probably be vaccinated.

“But this restraint, which we all have to show, will also accompany us in January, February and March and possibly also restrictive measures if our individual behavior is not sufficient,” explained

Braun

.

The Chancellery Minister defended the extension of the

corona measures

by the federal and state governments.

It is also assumed that the agreements will have to be extended until January.

So far, these are initially valid until December 20th.

However, Braun also sees room for local relaxation in the case of significantly falling

corona infection numbers,

such as in

Schleswig-Holstein

and

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

.

It is important that all federal states get involved "in the big questions" and that there are tightening where the number of infections increases significantly, said Braun.

Extension of the corona lockdown - Kretschmer: Corona pandemic is a marathon

Update from November 26th, 11.00 a.m.:

The Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg,

Winfried Kretschmann

(Greens), warns citizens of negligence in the

corona pandemic

during a special session of the state parliament

.

"We have to persevere in the last few meters so as not to endanger the victory," he said, referring to the progress made in the development of a

corona vaccine

.

The corona crisis is like a marathon run: the last remaining kilometers are the hardest.

Kretschmann showed understanding for frustration in the population.

But the corona measures taken have so far prevented a collapse of the health system.

After the Corona summit: Angela Merkel holds government declaration - there are no signs of a turnaround

First report from November 26th:

In a government declaration in the Bundestag, Chancellor 

Angela Merkel 

 outlined

the corona measures after the

corona summit

on Wednesday.

She explained the meaningfulness and necessity of the measures decided in the Corona crisis.

Merkel

 stressed

that it

has so far been possible to prevent

the

 health system

from being overwhelmed.

One must continue to prevent that.

A trend reversal in the 

corona pandemic

 has not yet occurred.

The number of infections stagnated at too high a level.

“We want it to be no Christmas of loneliness in the facilities, retirement homes and the like, facilities for the disabled.

It is very important that we do not only think about our own families ”, Angela #Merkel in the # government statement.

#Bundestag pic.twitter.com/IhOlpWMfoJ

- Nina Barth (@ninabarth_hsb) November 26, 2020

Merkel also emphasized that corona easing at 

Christmas 

and at the turn of the year cannot be promised.

Due to a rapid infection process, that could change again at short notice.

Merkel was 

critical of

the ski season 

.

If it were up to the Chancellor, all

ski areas

should be

closed.

“We will try to find a vote in Europe as to whether we can close all ski areas.

Unfortunately, when you hear the Austrian pronouncements, it doesn't look like we could do it that easily, but we will try again ”, said the Chancellor.

Even non-essential travel should be avoided, added

Angela Merkel

in her government statement.

The politicians from the various parties then gave their views.

(aka) * Merkur.de is part of the Ippen-Digital network.

List of rubric lists: © Guido Kirchner / dpa

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-11-28

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