Kubicki follows up on Nord Stream – and warns Habeck: "Don't blow up your own shop"
Created: 06/09/2022, 13:25
By: Florian Naumann
Robert Habeck (left) and Wolfgang Kubicki.
(Archive photo) © Paul Zinken/picture-alliance/dpa
Wolfgang Kubicki wants to turn away from Russia's gas - but only when the storage tanks are full: the FDP deputy even snubs his own faction.
Bielefeld/Berlin – FDP Vice Wolfgang Kubicki recently caused outrage by calling for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to be started in the middle of the Ukraine war.
And not only that: the Bundestag Vice President also received a more or less direct rebuff from his party.
As a result, the FDP parliamentary group even spoke out in favor of dismantling the pipeline.
But that doesn't make Kubicki fall silent or even change his mind.
On the contrary: In an interview with the
Neue Westfälische
published on Tuesday (September 6), he condemned the demands of his party friends in the Bundestag as simply wrong.
It follows "rather supposedly moral, less pragmatic, possibly even popular criteria" - and is ultimately not rational, according to Kubicki's accusation.
The reference to the highest morality "sometimes obscures the view of the rational arguments".
In its paper, the FDP parliamentary group had called for Russia's aggression to be consistently opposed.
Kubicki and Nord Stream: “Fill gas storage”
Nevertheless, Kubicki saw arguments on both sides in his reply.
"One should not narrow the corridor of opinion," he warned.
"My idea of morality is that I don't want to allow people in Germany to freeze and end up with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets." Germany should fill up its gas storage facilities "as quickly as possible so that we can then say to Putin: You you can lie chopped".
The dispute over the sanctions against Russia after the attack on Ukraine had recently increased in vehemence: the first demonstrations took place in Leipzig on Monday, some of which were also directed against the measures.
A promise by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) to support Ukraine, if necessary against the “opinion of her voters”, was met with a shit storm.
Last but not least, the traffic light coalition tried to calm things down with a third relief package.
In the conversation, Kubicki also referred to the gas supply routes: If Germany needs Russian gas, then it is “not rational” to say “we only want Russian gas via Nord Stream 1”.
Russia had recently shut down this pipeline for the umpteenth time.
Officially due to technical difficulties, as emphasized by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, among others.
The federal government no longer plans to use the pipeline as a source for gas supplies.
Kubicki follows up after Habeck's warning - and is now targeting the Greens himself
His own argument had recently been turned against Kubicki.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), for example, warned in August that Russia could prove to be unreliable when Nord Stream 2 was commissioned, just as it was with Nord Stream 1.
"And if he wins the game with us there, who gives us the guarantee that he won't do exactly the same thing with Nord Stream 2?"
At the same time, Germany would trample on “every value-based attitude, every attitude towards Putin,” said Habeck.
The federal government was also recently able to report that the gas storage facilities are unexpectedly well filled.
However, the reserves will have to be replenished next spring – lasting independence from Russia would therefore not be possible with a one-off filling of the reservoirs.
Meanwhile, Kubicki also had some advice for Habeck.
He certified the Greens in the
Neue Westfälische
a "practice shock".
The Vice-Chancellor must "revert to methods that he has always rejected".
Green politics work better when the country is doing well economically.
Habeck now has to "be extremely careful that, as the person responsible for the state, he doesn't blow up his own shop at the same time".
(
fn with material from AFP
)
