Despite a tennis match along with his companion, the Berlin CDU faction stands behind Kai Wegner | EUROtoday

The Berlin CDU parliamentary group has backed Kai Wegner within the debate in regards to the governing mayor’s actions within the longest energy outage in post-war historical past. The German Press Agency discovered from a number of contributors after the digital swap within the morning. Accordingly, there was a variety of help for Wegner’s disaster administration and no criticism of his one-hour tennis match on Saturday – just a few hours after the blackout started.

“He managed the crisis well, he took care of it, he was on site,” mentioned a bunch member. Several MPs emphasised that the electrical energy disaster should now be handled and the required classes discovered from it. “That is our focus and not a tennis match.” Wegner admitted to the group that, on reflection, he would have higher knowledgeable the general public about his break from sports activities on the weekend.

“Because I just wanted to clear my head,” mentioned Wegner, explaining his day trip

On Wednesday night, RBB and later additionally WELT reported that the governing mayor was not solely involved with disaster administration after the assault on Berlin’s electrical energy provide. On that Saturday, when over 40,000 Berlin households have been nonetheless with out electrical energy, Kai Wegner performed tennis for an hour between 1 and a pair of p.m. – “because I just wanted to clear my head,” as Wegner mentioned within the WELT speak “BURGARD.” defined.

His life companion, Education Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch (CDU), was there, which the Senate Chancellery confirmed to “Focus” and “Tagesspiegel” on Wednesday. Both politicians have formally been a pair since 2023.

There is presently nice outrage within the capital, but additionally on social media: when the governing mayor was enjoying tennis, it was already clear, in response to data from the community operator Stromnetz Berlin, that the blackout would last more. “The city’s most important citizen misjudged the priorities of his city and his office,” writes the “Tagesspiegel”.

The “Bild” newspaper initially reported on the particular parliamentary group assembly in Berlin. According to the report, this was known as on Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. – shortly after the information that Günther-Wünsch was additionally on the tennis sport.

The left-wing extremist “Vulkan Group” claimed accountability for the arson assault on a cable bridge on January 3, 2026, which lasted 4 days and affected 45,000 residents and a pair of,200 firms. The full provide was regularly restored on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, though, in response to WELT data, energy mills are nonetheless in use in remoted circumstances.

At a press convention on Sunday, the governing mayor answered reporters’ questions on the place he had been on Saturday: “At home. I locked myself in my office at home.” In addition, he was “neither bored nor put his feet up”. In an interview on WELT TV, Wegner detailed his every day routine and the hour on the tennis courtroom as follows: He “just needed to clear his head” after sitting on the telephone “since 8:07 a.m.” calling the authorities. However, in response to the 53-year-old, he was “available on his cell phone the whole time” – even throughout the tennis sport.

“He couldn’t have turned the electricity back on either,” warns the GdP

There are presently requires his resignation from the opposition. Berlin’s former governing mayor Walter Momper (SPD), for instance, clearly criticized the habits of the present head of presidency. “He didn’t recognize the dimension of the whole story,” mentioned the Social Democrat Momper to the dpa information company in regards to the CDU politician.

“He knew that the power had now been interrupted for thousands of households, and I assume he also knew how long that would last. And he didn’t react appropriately,” mentioned the 80-year-old, who was mayor from March 1989 to the tip of January 1991.

“I wouldn’t say it’s inexcusable, but it needs to be clarified how the day went for him and how he did it,” mentioned Momper. “And the fact that he went to tennis seemed a bit strange to me.”

Wegner obtained help from the Berlin regional group of the police union (GdP). Its chairman Stephan Weh believes the criticism of the Governing Mayor’s quick break throughout the energy outage is exaggerated.

“It has no added value for the police and fire brigade in dealing with such operational situations when politicians are outside,” he mentioned, in response to “T-Online”, concerning the criticism of the tennis sport. “He couldn’t have turned the electricity back on either.”

“Of course something like this eats away at the credibility of a politician, precisely because every sentence is put on the gold scales,” mentioned the GdP state chief. “But let’s be honest, the ruler is human and he needs breaks.” The most vital factor is that Kai Wegner and the Senate should now take measures to raised shield Berlin’s vital infrastructure as an entire.