Local authorities in Lusatia concerned about precautionary blocking of financial commitments by the federal government

At the same time, the judges ruled that the state may not reserve emergency loans for later years. This means that further billions for future projects are at risk. As the exact impact on the regular budget is still unclear, the Ministry of Finance has decided to block certain commitments from all ministries in the budget for the coming years as a precautionary measure.

Saxony and Brandenburg are currently developing differently, explained Herntier. In Brandenburg, the focus is on new settlements and the creation of value chains. Municipal projects, on the other hand, are lagging behind. In Saxony, the opposite is true. "Structural change needs both," said Herntier, who is also the mayor of Spremberg. Transport links to the region are a major problem in particular.

The non-party politician does have one piece of positive news, however: more people are returning to the region. Thanks to structural change, it is now easier to find arguments to convince people to stay here, says Herntier. Now, scientific institutions need to move into the area. In the Schwarze Pumpe industrial park on the Saxon-Brandenburg border, for example, the four Saxon universities of Dresden, Freiberg, Chemnitz and Zittau-Görlitz are planning to set up institutes at the beginning of next year.