Finance Minister Lindner does not want to compromise when it comes to tolerance and liberality. But Germany also has economic interests, he says about the liquid gas supply contract with Qatar. The FDP leader rejects Merz’s criticisms and blames the Union itself.
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner defended Germany’s economic relations with Qatar. “Business must not be placed above morality,” he said in an interview with Pinar Atalay on “RTL Direkt” about the LPG supply contract. “There must be no compromises in our commitment to tolerance and liberality,” said the FDP chairman, referring to criticism of the Gulf State in relation to the World Cup. “But we also have business interests, in this case energy interests, that we need to pursue.”
At the same time, he responded to the accusation of the Union’s parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz that the deal with Qatar was not worth it. “It was a federal government led by the CDU that made us unilaterally dependent on the Russian pipeline. I think it is a bit cheap when Mr. Merz is now criticizing the government from the sidelines for not being able to pay off the government mortgage quickly : “He’s throwing enough out of the former CDU-led federal government.”
In view of the imminent energy bottlenecks in the coming years, Lindner has spoken out in favor of thinking about fracking in Germany as well. “I would find it more convenient if we also used our domestic oil and gas wells. This would make us more independent. In the long run, I think it would be even cheaper.”
Lindner warned of the consequences of persistently high inflation. The inflation rate is still “too high” and represents a “major threat to social cohesion and good economic development in our country”. The federal government is doing “everything in its power” to mitigate the consequences of the price hike, she said ahead of the aid packages that have been agreed. However, high inflation “will certainly accompany people again next year.”
