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Christian Lindner: "The protection of health is a great good, but the highest good of our constitution, that is and remains freedom"
Photo: Uli Deck / dpa
Despite the Omikron variant, FDP party leader Christian Lindner calls for a course of moderate restrictions to be maintained in the pandemic.
"The protection of health is a great good, but the greatest good of our constitution is and remains freedom," said Lindner in Stuttgart at the Epiphany meeting of the liberals.
He described compulsory vaccination as a sensitive encroachment on people's right to self-determination, which must rightly be decided without party lines.
"I am no longer fundamentally against it," said Lindner.
"But I haven't made a positive decision either."
Lindner, who is also the Federal Minister of Finance, said the course of the pandemic in the past few weeks was confirmation of a measured approach to encroachments on fundamental rights.
The crisis strategy of the new federal government with 2G and 3G rules for hygiene protection, the reintroduction of free tests and a crisis team headed by a Bundeswehr general are showing results.
Germany has organized the most successful booster campaign for vaccinations in Europe in the past few weeks.
"With all of these measures we managed to cope with the fourth wave without overwhelming our health system," said Lindner.
This is also the actual task of the measures.
On Friday, the federal and state governments want to discuss further measures in the fight against the corona pandemic.
Topics will be, for example, a new quarantine regulation and nationwide 2G-Plus rules, as some countries are already implementing.
Lindner promised low-income citizens financial support given the current high energy prices.
The development of energy prices is a real burden, especially for people with low incomes, said the Federal Minister of Finance.
One wants to relieve the citizens in the long term, for example by eliminating the so-called EEG surcharge on the electricity price, said Lindner.
But it also has to be acted on in the short term.
Lindner promised his "solidarity support" to the people who were particularly affected by the high heating costs.
He did not provide any more specific information.
Lindner calls for viable repatriation agreements
Lindner also commented on migration policy. "I know that many have the expectation that a lot is happening, particularly with regard to humanitarian immigration to Germany," he said. This is a concern of the Greens. "But it must be clear that this willingness to take on more humanitarian responsibility must remain inextricably linked to the fact that Germany concludes workable return and migration agreements with other countries that work in practice."
The prerequisite for a new openness is control over access to Germany.
"A new, also liberal immigration policy must on the one hand create the conditions for people to come to us unbureaucratically," emphasized Lindner.
“On the other hand, however, it has to put more emphasis on ensuring that those who have no place with us can be brought back to their old homeland.”
At the moment the situation is such that, on the one hand, the wrong people are sometimes deported, namely precisely those who have already set out to be integrated.
"On the other hand, however, we will often not be able to send home those who are criminals or threats, who do not respect our free-democratic basic order and the rules of coexistence."
For more than 140 years, the Liberals started the new year politically on January 6th in the southwest.
In 1866 a forerunner of the FDP, the Württemberg People's Party, met in Stuttgart for the first "Three Kings Parade".
At the meeting, the FDP traditionally wants to reflect on the values of a liberal mindset and demonstrate self-confidence at the start of the new year.
mfh / dpa