DOHA/BERLIN, 25 Sep. (DPA/EP) –
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday during an official visit to the United Arab Emirates that conditions for migrant workers at the Qatar World Cup have improved in recent years, but remain far from ideal.
“We note that there is progress on issues that had to be fought for a long time, such as the situation of the workers. Even if that is far from (being the case),” said the German chancellor from Doha after meeting with the prince the day before. heir to Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman.
Although Scholz has not confirmed whether he will personally attend the event, he has stressed that Germany’s representative for the Qatar World Cup will be decided “at short notice” in the framework of the criticism that the country receives for the treatment of workers migrants.
Migrants from Nepal, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh work on the construction of stadiums to host matches, but also hotels, airports and transport lines. As revealed by ‘The Guardian’ in February, more than 6,500 migrant workers have lost their lives in Qatar since 2010 for this reason.
REDUCE ELECTRICITY AND GAS PRICES
On the other hand, within the framework of his visit, the German chancellor has announced the presentation of new proposals by the Executive to curb the energy crisis, alleging that the main thing now is to “reduce prices”, which are “too high”.
Scholz has added that, the day before, a commission has begun to carry out consultations on the matter and that, for the moment, it is doing “a very good and constructive job. “We can count on quick results”, he said.
The debate on the limitation of gas prices gained more force over the weekend. Finance Minister Christian Lindner expressed doubts about the planned gas price levy and called for a gas price curb.
At the same time, however, the financing of such a measure is being discussed. The government coalition had already agreed to put a ceiling on electricity prices. Thus, households will receive a quantity of electricity for basic consumption at a reduced price, as will small and medium-sized businesses.
As part of Scholz’s visit to the United Arab Emirates, the German energy company RWE has signed an agreement for an initial delivery, scheduled for December, of 137,000 cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from this Gulf country to a terminal near Hamburg.
According to RWE, a memorandum has been signed for deliveries over several years from 2023. For comparison, on February 1, before the Ukraine war, a gas volume of 1.7 million flowed through the Nord Stream pipeline 1, depending on the operator.
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