Emmanuel Thomas, DPA, Tuesday, June 13, 2023
BERLIN – The parliament in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is to take action to dissolve the largely Russian-funded MV Climate Protection Foundation, bypassing the state government.
In March 2022 the state’s governing coalition – made up of the centre-left Social Democrats and the Left Party – was called upon by a broad parliamentary majority to “work towards ensuring that the Climate and Environmental Protection Foundation MV does not continue to exist.”
The motion was made in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022.
However, the foundation’s board – including a former state premier, Erwin Sellering – has refused to resign, despite agreements to do so, obstructing efforts to dissolve it.
A meeting on Monday evening between president of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament, Birgit Hesse and the heads of the parliamentary groups was reportedly also attended by the current state premier Manuela Schwesig. She has been criticised for her pro-Russia stance and her support for the foundation.
Hesse said after Monday’s meeting that a commissioner would assess what possibilities exist for implementing the Landtag resolution. It will submit this proposal to the parliament’s council of elders.
The MV Climate Protection Foundation was founded at the beginning of 2021 to enable the completion of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline while circumventing sanction threats by the US against companies involved.
The subsidiary of the Russian state-owned company Gazprom contributed €20 million ($21.6 million) to the foundation for environmental projects. The business operations of the foundation, which were set up temporarily for the completion of the gas pipeline and were also financed by Nord Stream 2, were wound up.
