After a six-week break due to illness, the Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Manuela Schwesig (SPD), resumed her duties and sharply condemned Russia's war against Ukraine.
"This is a war crime, Putin is a war criminal and this war must be stopped immediately," she said in a press conference on Wednesday after a closed meeting with the state cabinet.
Nothing justifies the attack.
Schwesig called the situation for the people in Ukraine dramatic.
Your government is trying to offer the refugees from Ukraine in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as much protection as possible.
"It could be our own families," said Schwesig, who was deeply moved by the fate of the people in Ukraine.
Schwesig: Climate Foundation was a mistake
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will launch an aid package for Ukraine refugees amounting to 320 million euros this year and next, Schwesig announced.
In addition to money for care, this should also include 18 million euros this year and 25 million euros next year for the admission of children to schools and daycare centers.
The relationship between Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Russia will be different in the future due to the turning point brought about by the war, said the Prime Minister.
Appropriate steps have already been taken: the country has “suspended” its partnership with the Leningrad region, the commissioning of Nord Stream 2 has been stopped and the state’s climate and environmental foundation is to be dissolved.
From today's perspective, their establishment has proven to be wrong, said Schwesig.
With a view to her absence, the SPD politician said at the beginning of the press conference: "I am very happy that I am back on board after my recovery phase." She needed this break to devote all her energy to her tasks again be able.
Schwesig thanked her deputy, the left-wing politician Simone Oldenburg.
She represented them "very well".
Schwesig did not take part in the special session
Schwesig was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019.
In the past few weeks, the 47-year-old politician has had to undergo several operations to remedy the consequences of intensive cancer therapy.
Although she had suspended government business in recent weeks, Schwesig made several comments on social media shortly after Russia's attack on Ukraine, distancing herself from her previously pro-Russian policies.
She also sought to initiate the end of the controversial climate and environment foundation, which last year had supported the construction of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline with covert business activities in order to avoid the threat of American sanctions.
The opposition parties in the state parliament saw the activities as disregard for parliament, because Schwesig did not take part in a special session of the state parliament.