SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil defended Germany's relief package for companies against criticism from neighboring European countries.
"It is in the European sense that we secure industry and jobs here in Germany.
That's good for Europe," said Klingbeil in the FAZ podcast for Germany and responded to the accusation that the European domestic market was being thrown off balance by German aid.
Timo Steppat
Editor in Politics.
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"The alternative would be that such industry, that such companies later migrate to America or to China.
As Europeans, we cannot want that as a whole."
The criticism itself "surprised him a bit," he said.
“There are many other European countries that are already implementing gas or electricity price caps, for example.
They are further than we are.
And now we're following suit," said Klingbeil.
He promised that the planned measures would "massively reduce" the price of gas, according to Klingbeil in the FAZ podcast for Germany.
With regard to a possible nuclear confrontation with Russia, Klingbeil pointed out that "Vladimir Putin has his back against the wall".
For him, that is no reason to deviate from the support of Ukraine, at the same time one should not push the escalation any further.
Despite the urgent request from Ukraine and the demand from the EU Parliament to Germany, Klingbeil continues to refuse to supply Leopard II main battle tanks to Kyiv.
He affirmed that there should be no "German solo efforts".
In the FAZ podcast for Germany, Reinhard Bingener (political correspondent in Lower Saxony) and Eckart Lohse (head of the parliamentary office) also talk about the prospects of the election in Lower Saxony, about federal political effects - and the most promising government option.
Here you can read the interview with the humorist Dietmar Wischmeyer about the nature of Lower Saxony: https://zeitung.faz.net/faz/deutschland-und-die-welt/2022-10-07/im-grunde-ist-hannover- nice/812109.html