"Freedom Day": Söder dismisses traffic light projects - and sees the elimination of a corona rule as a no-go

Created: 03/13/2022, 09:37 am

By: Catherine Haase

Markus Söder (CSU), Prime Minister of Bavaria.

© Sven Hoppe/dpa/archive image

Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) finds some criticisms of the decisions of the new traffic light coalition.

Above all, the topic of Corona is driving the Bavarian head of state.

Munich

– Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder has been part of the opposition in the German Bundestag with the CSU * since the elections last September.

A difficult task for the politician, who is used to leadership, and whose federal state will also have state elections next year.

In previous talks, Söder had already indicated that he could not do anything with many of the decisions made by the traffic light government.

In an interview with

, Söder criticizes two things in particular and makes demands on the coalition around the new Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Interview with Markus Söder: Sharp criticism of the traffic light government

The Bavarian head of state supports the government's line on taking in refugees who have hastily left their country as a result of Putin's war of aggression against Ukraine.

"We have to help with a big heart and at the same time organize with a clear head," says Söder.

However, this is primarily the task of the federal government.

Söder criticized that the federal government would "leave too much to chance" and called for better organization in the reception and distribution of the arriving refugees.

The federal government must support the federal states and local authorities, especially when it comes to financing, the prime minister demands.

(By the way: Our Bayern newsletter informs you about all the important stories from Bavaria. Register here.)

Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder: Federal government badly organized on the refugee issue

Söder notes that the Federal Ministry of the Interior seems overwhelmed.

The federal government merely looks on as the federal states and municipalities organize themselves locally, which leads to the cities being overburdened and tasks being distributed unfairly.

Therefore, according to Söder, he considers a prime ministers' conference to be appropriate, as in the case of the decisions on the corona measures, which should focus on the issues of migration and integration.

Abolition of the Corona measures: Söder with violent words - "It's no longer logical"

However, the corona policy should not be completely ignored, according to Söder.

The 55-year-old believes that the decision to drop almost all far-reaching measures to contain the corona pandemic on March 20th was wrong.

Due to the increasing incidence* in Germany, this is not wise and does not correspond to reality.

"Obviously, the FDP really wanted to enforce their Freedom Day," said Söder.

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He strongly criticizes the fact that the government wants to enforce the new law without consulting the federal states.

Apparently, according to Söder, the traffic light coalition no longer wanted the good cooperation that would have proven itself at the prime ministerial conferences on the Corona situation with Angela Merkel.

According to Söder, however, he sees gaps and weaknesses in the draft.

End of the Corona measures in Bavaria: dispute in the state government could still be exciting

(By the way: Our Bayern newsletter informs you about all the important stories from Bavaria. Register here.)

It is not logical for the government to abolish all measures, although experts are predicting further waves of the corona pandemic.

Above all, the elimination of the mask requirement is a no-go for Söder.

It endangers the provision of lessons, especially in schools.

One is defenseless against new mutations in the coming autumn.

The discussion about the obligation to wear a mask had already caused a lot of explosives in the Bavarian state parliament.

The Free Voters welcomed the decision and Vice Prime Minister Huber Aiwanger said happily "Finally no more masks in schools".

Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) countered this statement with the comment that Aiwanger apparently understood little about infection protection.

"That's not too bad because he is not responsible for it as Economics Minister," said Holetschek.