The Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, Daniel Günther (CDU), on Tuesday awarded the Order of Merit of the state of Schleswig-Holstein to five personalities who have each made an extraordinary effort to make the Fehmarn Belt connection a reality.
Rarely awarded
At the presentation ceremony in Kiel, Daniel Günther began by emphasizing that you really have to earn your way to receive the state’s order of merit:
– The state’s order of merit is an order that is awarded very rarely. And today we can give it to as many as five people who have worked tirelessly and committedly for a number of years for a cause that means an extraordinary amount to Schleswig-Holstein, said the Prime Minister from the podium.
– The fixed Fehmarnbelt connection brings Europe closer together. The tunnel brings Germany closer to Scandinavia and represents nothing less than the beginning of a new chapter in German-Danish friendship. You have contributed to the fact that this chapter has been accompanied constructively and critically and thus has been significantly improved, continued Daniel Günther.
Two Danish receivers
In the front row, the five recipients of the order sat and listened. The two of them had traveled all the way from Denmark. It was former Member of Parliament, Minister of Energy, Minister of Housing and Minister of Taxes for the Liberal Party, Svend Erik Hovmand, and Managing Director of the business foundation Femern Belt Development, Stig Rømer Winther.
Campaigned for fixed connection
– Svend Erik Hovmand has been an advocate of the partnership between Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark for decades. Therefore, long before the decisions on the Fehmarnbelt connection were made, he campaigned for a permanent connection across the Baltic Sea. He was chairman of Fehmarn Belt Development for ten years and helped found the Fehmarn Belt Committee, which promotes cooperation between Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark, was the Prime Minister’s justification for awarding Svend Erik Hovmand the Order of Merit.
Recognition of concrete efforts
You have received virtually all the orders you can get in Denmark, apart from the Order of the Elephant. What does this one mean to you?
– Now I’m not going to belittle the others, but this one I’m particularly happy with. Some orders are awarded after a number of years as a minister, but this one is recognition of many years of concrete effort, and I am very happy about it, said Svend Erik Hovmand after the ceremony.
Bridge builder and ambassador
The other Danish recipient of the order, Stig Rømer Winther, also received honorable mention along the way:
– Stig Rømer Winther has been a bridge builder between Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark and an ambassador for the joint Fehmarnbelt region for many years. Especially during the long approval process for the Fehmarn Belt link, he did everything in his power to promote mutual understanding and the economic opportunities that the link brought. As managing director of Fehmarn Belt Development, he is the central initiator of German-Danish cooperation across the Fehmarn Belt, were the words of praise from Daniel Günther.
– People have noticed that we have been here
What does the order mean to you?
– It is recognition of the work that has been done over many years. Such an order means more in Germany than it does in Denmark, where orders do not mean so much. Personally, I am very honored that you have noticed that we have been here. But I see it just as much as a recognition of Fehmarn Belt Development. It is never the general who wins the war – it is the soldiers together with the general, said Stig Rømer Winther on top of having received the red cross on his chest.
Opponent has improved the project
One of the more surprising recipients of Schleswig-Holstein’s Order of Merit was Susanne Brelowski, who is a declared opponent of the Fehmarn Belt connection and spokesperson for the citizens’ initiatives against the connection.
– Susanne Brelowski is committed to safeguarding the interests of citizens’ initiatives and contributing her expertise to the dialogue forum. It not only finds a wide audience there, but also in the public and at all political levels, especially at the state and federal levels. In doing so, she has made a significant contribution to many improvements in the planning of the project developers and in particular to funds for extra-legal noise protection along the railway line connecting the Fehmarn Belt junction, read the Prime Minister’s justification for awarding her the order.
Two orders for dialogue forum
The last two recipients of the Order of Merit were former ambassador Dr. Christoph Jessen, who has been spokesperson for the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link Dialogue Forum for more than ten years, and Thomas Keller, who since 2016 has been spokesperson for the project advisory board in the dialogue forum.
Schleswig-Holstein’s order of merit is a relatively new phenomenon. It was awarded for the first time in 2008, and thus Schleswig-Holstein became the last German state to award its own order of merit.
