Parliament - FDP, CDU and AfD make it more difficult to build wind turbines in Thuringia's forests
The FDP and CDU have once again amended a law in Thuringia together with Björn Höcke's AfD. The three opposition parties pushed through an amendment to the Forest Act in the state parliament on Friday against the red-red-green minority coalition of Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left Party). The legally controversial law, which was tabled by the FDP, is intended to make it more difficult to build wind turbines in Thuringia's forests. A general ban on wind turbines, which was in place until 2022, was overturned as unconstitutional by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.
The first amendment to the law, in which the votes of the AfD, which has been classified as proven right-wing extremist by the Thuringian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, played a decisive role, caused a nationwide debate a few weeks ago. At that time, the CDU, as the largest opposition group in the state parliament in Erfurt, pushed through a reduction in the land transfer tax to 5.0 percent together with the FDP and AfD. The CDU had justified its actions by saying that good initiatives could not be prevented just because the AfD was threatening to vote in favor. The Thuringian CDU had received backing from the head of the federal party.
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- Despite the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling that a general ban on wind turbines was unconstitutional, the FDP, CDU, and AfD successfully amended Thuringia's Forest Act in the state parliament, making it harder to construct wind turbines in forests.
- The red-red-green minority coalition led by Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left Party) opposed this amendment, but it was passed due to the support of the AfD, a party classified as proven right-wing extremist by the Thuringian Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
- This marks the second time that the AfD, along with the CDU and FDP, has influenced a legislative change in Thuringia's state parliament, despite criticism from various quarters.
- While Bodo Ramelow and other politicians expressed concerns about the potential impact on Thuringia's energy production objectives and the protection of the constitution, the joint opposition parties argued that the amendment would promote responsible wind energy development.
- The latest developments in Thuringia's state parliament highlight the ongoing political tensions between various parties in Germany and the compromise needed to pass legislation in a coalition-based political system.
Source: www.stern.de
