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Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Vice Chair and President of Microsoft Corporation Brad Smith come to the Microsoft Deutschland GmbH press conference on the group's investments in the AI sector in Germany.
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
The opposition likes to mock NRW Prime Minister Wüst as a “fair-weather politician” or “Insta-president” of beautiful pictures.
He presents his black-green interim balance sheet.
Düsseldorf - 20 months after the start of the first black-green coalition in North Rhine-Westphalia, Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) and his deputy Mona Neubaur (Greens) took stock in Düsseldorf.
The icing on the cake on her detailed presentation: a mega investment by the tech group Microsoft in North Rhine-Westphalia announced on Thursday.
From A for jobs to Z for cooperation without problems, the Prime Minister presented himself as a care-giver in the country and a forward-looking politician with an eye on the world.
In terms of state politics, he covered all the key areas, from education to the energy transition to the fight for democracy, and seemed to have meticulously armed himself against the opposition's constant accusation of not being sufficiently interested in the country as a possible candidate for chancellor of the Union.
Microsoft coup: Wüst was able to celebrate the most important news of the day with a billion-dollar investment from Microsoft.
“The top-class US tech group,” as NRW Economics Minister Mona Neubaur (Greens) called it, will build data centers in Bedburg and Bergheim in the Rhenish district over the next two years.
Wüst announced that another decision would be made in the foreseeable future, without giving further details.
Wüst spoke of a historic decision and the largest single investment in Microsoft's 40-year history in Germany.
Energy transition: When it comes to expanding renewable energies, the state government is well on its way to achieving the goal postulated in the black-green coalition agreement of building 1,000 new wind turbines by 2027.
368 approvals in 2023 alone were twice as many as the year before.
NRW is at the top nationwide.
The country also experienced a boom with more than 210,000 solar systems put into operation: the newly installed capacity last year, at 2,036 megawatts, also doubled the previous year's output.
Electricity supply: “We have to say for North Rhine-Westphalia at this point: the gas and electricity supply is secure,” said Neubaur.
The state government will present an energy and heat supply strategy in May.
Through the Federal Council, NRW wants to achieve a readjustment of the federal government's inadequate power plant strategy.
School: The two top politicians also gave a positive interim assessment in the education sector: “Last year we managed to bring an additional 5,000 people into the school system, said Wüst.
3,900 new positions have been filled with teachers, school psychologists and social workers.
There are also 1,200 everyday helpers who relieve teachers of non-pedagogical tasks.
Jobs: The most important building block in the fight against child poverty is that parents have jobs, emphasized the Prime Minister.
The fact is that NRW reached a historic high last year with almost ten million people in employment.
On average for the year, almost 50,000 more people were in work than in 2022.
Health: A topic that is particularly close to his heart is the medical fight against widespread diseases, said Wüst.
“We agreed in the coalition agreement to lead the fight against dementia and cancer.” This year, funding has now begun for a national center for tumor diseases in Essen, which has an extraordinary patient data set.
“We have excellent researchers there who really have a global reputation,” emphasized Wüst.
The individualization of cancer therapies, which is being researched here, is a huge opportunity to combat the disease.
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Coalition: Wüst and Neubaur both praised the cooperation in their first black-green coalition in state history, which was forged in May 2022.
In contrast to Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), Wüst also clearly supported such an option in the federal government.
“Black-green has a lot of potential,” he said.
It is no longer “an avant-garde project”.
AfD: “The AfD is a danger to democracy and it is also a danger to our prosperity,” emphasized Wüst.
The party's demand for Germany to leave the EU would cost the country dearly.
In fact, at around 83 million euros per year, Germany's “welfare gains” from the European internal market are higher than in any other EU country.
“The AfD is burning 1,000 euros for every citizen in Germany when it advocates leaving the EU,” warned Wüst.
EU election: Because of the dangers posed by right-wing populists, the upcoming EU election in June is “an election of fate,” said Wüst.
It's about the strength of Europe, the preservation of democracy and an open society as well as the foundation of prosperity.
That's why he's asking citizens to think seriously about this election and mark election day on their calendars today.
World politics: Wüst will take part in the Munich Security Conference this Friday.
The CDU politician announced that he had been asked to report on the development of North Rhine-Westphalia into the first climate-neutral industrial region in Europe.
He will also speak there with Microsoft President Brad Smith.
With Microsoft's investment, the Rhenish region could become an international model for successful structural change, said Wüst.
“People look at us and what we do here.” Around 50 heads of state and government as well as more than 100 ministers from all over the world are expected at the security conference from Friday to Sunday.
dpa