A large container port is to be built in Świnoujście, Poland. The village's inhabitants on the German side of the island of Usedom want to prevent its construction. The project puts Polish-German relations to the test, writes the weekly 'Die Zeit.'
The container port is to be built eight kilometers in a straight line from the spa town of Ahlbeck. Built as planned, it would be one of the largest in the Baltic Sea, with a capacity of two million standard containers per year. By comparison, the port in Hamburg has a total capacity of nine million per year.
When the port's plans became known, in 2018, a group of residents called "Lebensraum Vorpommern" painstakingly researched Polish construction plans, collected thousands of signatures, and won the support of the mayor and two MEPs.
MEPs commissioned an expert opinion on the possible consequences of the port's operation. In the meantime, the government of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern asked Poland to be included in the approval procedure. This is mandatory under international treaties and EU directives.
The Germans' fears are not new. Similar criticism appeared during the construction of the LNG terminal. But it had no effect on the number of visitors, even though now huge gas ships are landing here.
"Germans," - as says the mayor of Świnoujście - "they always complain," writes 'Die Zeit.'
