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Habeck in Schwedt: criticism and encouragement
Photo: FILIP SINGER / EPA
Of course, Robert Habeck jumps onto the table before he starts talking.
Actually, the event should have taken place indoors, but the rush was too big, here in Schwedt in the PCK refinery, too many want to hear what the Economics Minister has to say about their future.
Here, a good hour north-east of Berlin, near the German-Polish border, a geopolitical issue turns into very immediate politics.
This refinery is where the oil from the Druzbar pipeline ends up, Russian oil, majority owned by Rosneft, the Russian energy giant.
It's about the really big issues, about justice for Ukraine, about not transferring more billions to Vladimir Putin while he is invading Ukraine, it's about blackmail, war and peace, national security.
But the main thing here is: jobs.
About the meeting of very concrete material interests and more distant material interests.
A good 1,100 people work here, they produce heating oil and fuel for large parts of East Germany, including Berlin.
They ask themselves: What will become of us?
While the political question is: How big is support for sanctions against Putin if things get serious?
And how do people react to the minister?
Habeck had hesitated for a long time
"I know that it's probably a bit late that I'm here, and conversely it's the first possible time that was possible," Habeck opens while standing on the table with more than a hundred employees listening in front of him , many in the company's green-and-orange overalls.
That is Habeck's central message in the first sentence: the tasks are great, the fears too, I see that, I understand that, I don't judge that, I'll do everything for you and I make mistakes.
But.
There is almost always a but in reality, and in this case the but is the oil embargo.
Habeck wants to make Germany independent of Russian oil, yes, the whole EU has practically already decided that they want to get rid of blood oil from Russia.
A large part of society is in favor of this, other countries are putting pressure on Germany.
It's only a matter of time.
That is Habeck's message.
Let's prepare better.
He had hesitated for a long time as to whether an embargo was really feasible, especially because of Schwedt.
In West Germany there are other refineries, other transport routes.
But in the East there are mainly Schwedt and Leuna and they are very attached to Putin's pipeline.
Now the announcement is: It can be done.
Alternatives have been found.
"I'd be happy if you didn't just see me as your enemy," says Habeck.
He also explains what he has done to preserve the work even in the event of an embargo.
First: Secure oil from other sources and ensure that oil from the reserve in Wilhelmshaven can be delivered by ship and pipeline from Poland.
He recently announced his breakthrough after a trip to Poland.
Second: Ensuring that the state is allowed and willing to assume the financial risks and additional burdens.
»Christian Lindner paid«.
The EU agrees.
Thirdly, make sure that the plant can participate in any case, so that Rosneft will not stand in the way and that it is clear who will take over if the worst comes to the worst.
Habeck remains vague, but the situation is also hairy.
How to get a Russian company to stop processing Russian oil to harm Russia?
The government's response may be: by pushing it out.
Purchase by another company, nationalization, trusteeship, it's all on the table.
Often enough, job concerns in a company elude the direct access of a federal minister.
In this case it is very different.
This gives the meeting another drop.
Someone has to convince people
Habeck advocates starting as soon as possible, even before the embargo takes effect, in order to get used to the new mode.
He explains all the reasons and considerations and how often during his appointments do you ask yourself what should actually be asked.
But then, of course, there is a question.
Hadn't he committed himself by oath of office to ward off harm from the German people?
Couldn't the Druzhba pipeline be exempted from the embargo?
Wouldn't an embargo fizzle out because other countries would then buy the oil?
When he was Minister of the Environment in Schleswig-Holstein, Habeck used to call himself the Outside Minister because he was responsible for the outside, but also because he was outside a lot himself.
If people are against a wind turbine or a power line, then you have to listen to them and then convince them or propose a compromise.
In case of doubt, the minister himself, if it is particularly delicate.
And it doesn't get any more delicate than this.
As always, Habeck explains a lot, as always he also concedes a lot: that the questioner is right, that there really is a problem, that there is a residual risk.
He refers to his lecture if he has already derived something.
Here, too, he takes his opponents seriously in the radical way that is his own, by demanding complex arguments, premises and conclusions, reasons and counter-reasons, doubts and uncertainties.
He cannot tell them what they would like to hear.
Instead of hiding this from them, he tries to make them understand why he can't say it.
When will oil be sourced from Russia again?
– »That is a very good question and I cannot give you the answer.«
Radical seriousness to the point of harsh contradiction
Taking things seriously goes so far that he also contradicts the questioners.
One whispered that Habeck was serving US interests, because the US wanted to drive Germany and Russia apart, and by the way, oil is not a fossil fuel at all.
Then Habeck exclaims: "If I may answer so honestly, I would say that there were three mistakes in your question."
When asked about the »last generation« climate activists who are currently regularly shutting off emergency valves on pipelines, including those near Schwedt, he says: »You have me by your side with the admonition: Do not destroy any infrastructure.
That doesn't help us in the end.
And I ask that you at least take the concerns and fears of these people seriously."
Then Dietmar Woidke, the SPD Prime Minister of Brandenburg, speaks up, he hasn't been involved since his opening statement.
"I'm reluctant to disagree with you about your assessment of these people," only to then contradict: "However, if there are people who want to force the state, and you, to do things that you wouldn't do otherwise, and such a case is obviously involved here, then a limit has been reached and that is a limit that constitutes a criminal offence.
Period, over, end.«
It is an answer from the standard political repertoire.
A bit off the point because no one has disputed that it is a criminal offence.
Presented with sovereign indignation, supplemented by I-let-now-let's-say-how-ism, aimed at the feelings of the listeners.
Not lastingly constructive, but ignites.
However, Habeck also gets a lot of applause, and not only in places where he praises the diligence or the competence of the employees.
But the questioners who contradict him also get plenty of applause.
It can't be said exactly, but based on the popularity, doubts about the embargo probably outweigh the embargo in Schwedt.
That's not so small for a minister who is explaining to people why their jobs are all at risk and that while he's been working hard for months to make sure they're sure, he can't guarantee it 100 percent either.
In Habeck's words: "Could have been louder or more snarky."