Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir sharply blames the former federal government for the energy crisis. “We inherited a catastrophic situation, a disaster,” said the Green politician on Sunday in Munich on the energy policy of the former black-red coalition under Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). “I didn’t think it was a good idea either that we get 60 percent of the gas from a criminal named Vladimir Putin,” Özdemir said at a panel discussion at the Interforst trade fair.
The 56-year-old called for a discussion about the previous government’s mistakes: “Please let us work through what has been done in Germany in recent years.” He did not expressly mention Merkel or the SPD.
The minister also indirectly criticized the CSU: “I didn’t deliberately sabotage renewable energies, I didn’t decide on wind clearance areas either.” This referred to the fact that the Bavarian state government under former Prime Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) allowed the construction of wind turbines in Bavaria had largely come to a standstill due to stricter building regulations.
“I would be ashamed if I handed over the country in this state – it wasn’t just Bavaria – like that.”
The current federal government must now roll up its sleeves in order to reduce the “I would almost say criminal dependence on criminals in the world”. “I don’t want Putin to decide here whether we have enough energy or not,” Özdemir said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
