BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – According to its own statements, the Federal Ministry of Economics has not received a joint request from the East Prime Ministers for a meeting with Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) about the planned oil embargo against Russia. “But of course Minister Habeck will always seek talks with the prime ministers or is in regular contact with them,” said a spokeswoman for the German Press Agency in Berlin on Friday.
The Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) had previously questioned the plans for the oil embargo again. “An oil embargo can only exist if it is guaranteed that 100 percent of the lost quantities will be replaced by other sources and at reasonable, competitive prices,” he said. The East German prime ministers had urgently requested a meeting with Economics Minister Habeck for the next few days.
The spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Economics pointed out that Habeck had met the Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt Reiner Haseloff (CDU) and his Thuringian colleague Bodo Ramelow (Left) in their home states at the beginning of the week. Last week, Habeck visited the refinery in Schwedt together with the Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD). “Our doors are always open for a conversation.”
The ministry also recalled Habeck’s statements in the Bundesrat in the morning, where he had commented on the issue of security of supply. “In it he expressed his concern that the issue of sanctions and supplies would be viewed as the sole problem of the East and that there would be a risk of conducting a split debate,” explained the spokeswoman. “We must and will stand together as a country and help each other.”
The oil embargo is being discussed at EU level but has not yet been decided. East Germany would be particularly affected because the two large refineries in Leuna and Schwedt have been processing Russian oil from the Druzhba pipeline./hrz/DP/he