In September, I was on tour in my constituency in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. During my visit to the north-east, I also went to Świnoujście in Poland. The government has plans for building a container terminal on the Baltic coast, in the European nature reserve Natura-2000.
The planned construction project not only violates current EU legislation and Natura-2000 requirements – it will also have a devastating impact on nature in the Usedom region.
Citizens' initiatives on the Polish and German side: Cross-border activism against the construction of the terminal
The consequences will affect both countries equally. On the one hand, the construction of the port will lead to the massive destruction of the environment, and on the other, to increasing traffic at sea and on land. The resulting emissions, in turn, will not only affect the local population, but also the tourism industry which is dependent on an intact ecosystem.
The Polish citizens’ initiative “Right Bank” has therefore already addressed a petition (Nr. 225/2018, German) to the European Parliament in 2018. In the meantime, the German citizens’ initiative “Biotope West Pomerania” has introduced another petition (Nr. 1018/2020, German).
In cooperation with many stakeholders from politics and civil society, I will campaign for the preservation of the unique natural landscape that is the Pomeranian Bay and for compliance with the rules and laws we have all agreed upon in the context of European cooperation.
