The ZDF summer interview with the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder is about the energy crisis and Bavaria’s role in the energy transition.
Presenter Shakuntala Banerjee has big plans in the ZDF summer interview with Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder. With her questions, she tries to elicit at least some self-criticism or reflection from the head of the CSU. An attempt that seems doomed to fail.
Because Söder showed himself in the usual cocky and arrogant manner. Bayern would be better off than everyone else. So good, “that we pay nine billion (euro) state financial equalization to others,” emphasizes Söder during the summer interview, which was recorded early Sunday evening in Nuremberg in the Germanic National Museum and broadcast on ZDF at 7:10 p.m.
ZDF summer interview: Söder warns of “considerable distortions and problems”
When asked about the energy crisis, the Bavarian Prime Minister sees major problems in Germany and Bavaria. Due to skyrocketing prices and difficult supply situation, there was a risk of “considerable distortions and problems.” It is easy for him to take responsibility for the traffic light, which now has to find a replacement. The trips by Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) to Qatar, Canada and Norway have so far not brought an adequate replacement. “Germany has made a decision, namely to supply fewer weapons, but to take a different approach to energy. But now Germany, the federal government, must also find a way that our country does not suffer so much,” said Söder, complaining that due to the increased prices, more money than ever before is being paid to Russia.
One way to become energy independent would also be a successful energy transition towards renewable energies. Söder cannot understand the accusation that he and the CSU overslept. “Bavaria has one of the largest share of renewable energies in Germany. That’s just a fact.” However, it’s also a fact that the CSU has been campaigning against wind turbines for years and has been putting the brakes on the expansion of nationwide power lines.
In the ZDF summer interview, Söder promises 1000 new wind turbines
Even when Banerjee quotes the Bavarian state parliament president and party comrade Ilse Aigner (CSU), who says “The electricity bottleneck from north to south is also your own fault”, only one thing applies to Söder: Bavaria does it better than everyone else and the others are always to blame. He or the then Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer (CSU) did not really slow down, but the former Federal Minister of Economics Siegmar Gabriel (SPD). Even with the protest against wind turbines, it wasn’t the CSU that caused the mood, but “green groups and free voters.” There was no personal responsibility. Instead, Söder surprises with a bold promise: “We’re doing more with the wind now, we definitely want to set up over 1000 new wind turbines in the end” – definitely.
Criticism of this rhetoric full of lip service has recently come from the Greens in Bavaria. The approval ratings of Söder and the CSU have been in the basement for months given their own self-image. According to a survey by the Augsburger Allgemeine, 54 percent of Bavarians are dissatisfied with the work of their prime minister. However, Söder seems to be confident in his communication strategy. A lot of promises, laying it on thick and attacking the critic when criticized.
ZDF summer interview: Söder compares energy policy with FC Bayern Munich
This was also the case when Shakuntala Banerjee led the Association of Bavarian Energy and Water Management, which came to the conclusion that Bavarian energy policy was too slow in all areas in view of the ambitious goal of “climate neutrality by 2040”. Söder cannot answer why the goals he has set himself are repeatedly not achieved and instead emphasizes that his government spends more money than everyone else. “We spend more than a billion euros a year on renewable energies,” says Söder, looking for a comparison with other federal states. “But is that money well invested?” asks Banerjee, which Söder ignores.
Instead, he prefers to draw a comparison with the German soccer record champions. When it comes to solar energy, they are “like Bayern Munich in football – of course we always want to get better, but we don’t even see the others there.” Nevertheless, the Free State of Bavaria is currently falling short of the goals it has set itself for solar energy, as Banerjee emphasizes.
Little or nothing new in the ZDF summer interview with Markus Söder
Next year, the state elections in Bavaria will show whether Söder’s course will continue to be successful. The absolute majority, which for a long time stood for the self-image of the CSU like white sausage and beer, Söder currently believes is no longer possible. An absolute majority seems like “hubris” these days. Söder himself is satisfied with his government record. His Corona policy would have saved the lives of 130,000 people and even in the current energy crisis, people in Bavaria are reacting better than in the rest of the republic.
In terms of content, the summer interview brought little or nothing new. But that didn’t seem to have been the aim of presenter Shakuntala Banerjee either. With her questioning technique, she showed much more the inability of the Bavarian Prime Minister to accept criticism. (Maximilian Huebner)
