By Andrea Thomas
BERLIN (Dow Jones) — Green party leader Ricarda Lang does not expect the traffic light coalition to break up because of the nuclear dispute. At the same time, she called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to take a clear position on the issue disputed between the Greens and the FDP.
“Of course it’s not a nice situation at the moment. But the coalition will continue to work together and will continue to face the challenges,” said Lang after the deliberations of the Green Federal Executive. “We are not only in a time when we have a war on European soil, but also in an energy crisis, in an economic crisis. We are very clear: We want to take responsibility there at the traffic light, but also with the traffic light.”
Greens and FDP have been arguing for weeks about the term of the remaining three Akw. The Greens around Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck want to implement reserve operation of two southern German nuclear power plants by mid-April 2023 at the latest in order to ensure grid stability and security of supply. The third nuclear power plant in Emsland is scheduled to be shut down by the end of the year. The FDP around Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner, on the other hand, calls for a general extension of the service life of all three remaining nuclear power plants until at least 2024, including the ordering of new fuel rods and the reactivation of decommissioned nuclear power plants. The Greens strictly reject this. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, an agreement is necessary this week, since the Bundestag must decide on reserve operation by mid-April 2023 by the end of next week. This is the only way that repair work on the Bavarian Akw Isar 2 could still be commissioned.
When asked about Scholz’s role in the current dispute, Lang said she “would sometimes like to know” what the SPD’s position on this topic was. “It wasn’t so clear to me in the last few weeks,” said Lang.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 17, 2022 09:31 ET (13:31 GMT)