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CDU state politician Ulrich Thomas (l.) And Interior Minister Holger Stahlknecht at a meeting in the state parliament
Photo: Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert / dpa
The dispute between the Saxon-Anhalt coalition over the radio license fee in Germany threatens to escalate once and for all.
The CDU parliamentary group now refuses to postpone the groundbreaking vote in the state parliament's media committee for a week.
This was announced by a group spokeswoman.
This means that a corresponding and only a few hours old result of a special meeting of the CDU, SPD and Greens is off the table again.
The top representatives of the parties should now meet again in the evening for a crisis meeting.
There is not much time for an agreement, the media committee will meet tomorrow.
The stumbling block in the dispute over the increase in the radio license fee is the position of the CDU: The Christian Democrats want - like the AfD - to vote against the increase in the radio license fee, while the Greens and the SPD are in favor.
Prime Minister Rainer Haseloff, on the other hand, does not want a joint vote with the AfD and is in favor of the new State Media Treaty.
The controversial increase by 86 cents to 18.36 euros in the future is now seriously endangering the continued existence of the coalition in the state.
The Greens had threatened to break the coalition if the CDU should vote together with the AfD.
The media committee in the state parliament is to decide on Wednesday how to deal with the state treaty, including an increase in contributions, it recommends to the plenary for the final meeting in mid-December.
In order to ultimately prevent a joint vote with the AfD, the State Chancellery and CDU parliamentary group had recently proposed that the government withdraw the state treaty and that the state parliament not vote on it.
This would in fact also be blocked because the consent from Saxony-Anhalt is missing.
CDU parliamentary group leader Siegfried Borgwardt had also brought renegotiations about the amount of the contribution into play.
Other federal states do not want to renegotiate
Even in other Union-led federal states one cannot get excited about renewed negotiations.
"The procedure for determining the amount of the radio license fee follows clear regulations," said Schleswig-Holstein State Chancellery Dirk Schrödter (CDU).
He asked the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt to approve the state treaty amending the media this year.
Bavaria also rejected possible renegotiations.
»There is only hopp or top.
There will be no renegotiation from a Bavarian perspective, "said State Chancellor Florian Herrmann (CSU) after a cabinet meeting in Munich.
Most of the state parliaments have already approved the increase on January 1, 2021 or have signaled that they will.
Saxony-Anhalt is considered the only wobbly candidate.
If a country does not ratify the treaty by the end of the year, it does not come into force.
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