Today we are looking at the resolutions on a somewhat tougher shutdown light, the shortage of women in German boardrooms and the visit of the Russian Foreign Minister to Belarus.
German »Transition«
Not only the USA is in a "transition", in a transition period between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, between old and new, between darkness and light.
We too experience such a phase in which we are not allowed to let go of the old completely, but already have the new in mind.
Instead of looking at Trump, we look at the virus
, at the damage it causes anew every day, manifested in terrible news from the Robert Koch Institute.
At the same time, something new beckons in the distance, hope, the vaccine that will perhaps make the first in the country happy as early as December.
But, as is well known, it will be a while before everyone who wants to get their dose, maybe half a year, maybe a whole, maybe even longer.
Icon: enlarge
Angela Merkel after the conference with the Prime Minister
Photo: POOL / REUTERS
And that's why the round that we have almost grown to love will be with us for a while.
Yesterday the Chancellor met again with the heads of the federal states, it was a
tough struggle
, almost seven hours long, with a result that was to be expected: Christmas and New Year's Eve can be celebrated, even in a larger group, but the price is stricter contact restrictions in the days before, a limited gluttony and an extensive mask requirement.
The federal states, whose cabinets and parliaments are partially meeting today for special sessions, will decide on further measures.
In a few weeks we will know whether one will balance the other, whether Christmas and New Year's Eve will remain well-deserved moments of freedom in the strictly regulated autumn and winter or develop into nationwide superspreader events, for the consequences of which we will have to pay bitterly in January.
Holy Night.
Today at 9 a.m. Angela Merkel will make a government declaration in the Bundestag, here are the most important decisions from yesterday:
The previous rules continue to apply or will be tightened.
From December 1st, only
five adults from a maximum of two households are allowed to
meet.
Exception: From December 23 to January 1,
a maximum of ten people from any number of households can meet.
Missiles may be fired, except in busy squares and streets.
However, it is recommended
not to use fireworks
.
The
maximum number of customers
in shops is regulated more clearly.
The
mask requirement
is expanded, for example in front of shops and in parking lots.
The
states
can decide for themselves whether to loosen or tighten measures depending on the infection situation.
At the end of these difficult months one will ask: What will remain of the crisis?
Have we learned methods that also help for other global challenges, such as the climate crisis?
Which type of politician do voters prefer after the crisis, a researcher like Markus Söder, a deliberate one like Armin Laschet?
And will democracy emerge strengthened or weakened from this year of crisis?
24 SPIEGEL editors have reconstructed and analyzed the first phase of the federal and state government's corona policy in detail.
"As captivating as a cinema thriller," says the trade magazine "Buchmarkt".
The SPIEGEL book "Lockdown - How Germany narrowly escaped the catastrophe in the corona crisis" is now available in stores.
Merkel and the Prime Minister adopt new corona measures: Then celebrate carefully
Not just yet
Icon: enlarge
Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht
Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
It was an unexpected surprise when a joint working group from the Union and the SPD announced last Friday that they had basically agreed on a quota for women on boards of DAX companies.
At the conference of justice ministers from the federal and state governments, which begins today, a lot will also be about
equality
.
With Saxony, Saarland, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg, four federal states have submitted a joint application aimed at improving the work-life balance for members of the supervisory board and cooperative, as my colleague Lydia Rosenfelder has learned.
Hesse and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania also support the application.
The reason for this initiative was the debate about Delia Lachance in spring.
She is the founder of the online furniture retailer Westwing, went on maternity leave and had to give up her position on the board.
In addition to the debate about the quota, there are still many facets with which a decades-old problem can finally be tackled.
Justice Minister Lambrecht wants to stop: "There are enough men who snap at every sausage"
89 times against the right
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Corona protester with the Reich war flag in front of the Reichstag (August 2020)
Photo:
John Macdougall / AFP
The numbers sound impressive: the federal government wants to invest more than a billion euros in the
fight against right-wing extremism and racism
by 2024
.
The Cabinet Committee to Combat Racism decided on 89 measures yesterday.
There will be a hotline for those affected, a federal government commissioner for racism, studies, including those relating to the police, and a new criminal offense for "anti-Semitic or racist agitation".
However, there is still a need for clarification, for example with the
controversial Democracy Promotion Act
.
Some in the Union fear that the funds could go to initiatives that are too far left from a conservative point of view.
It was Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU), beyond any suspicion of being too close to the left, who has now negotiated a compromise with Family Minister Franziska Giffey (SPD), to which at least the Chancellor signaled her approval.
The law is now called differently (law for the promotion of defensive democracy), is not only intended to provide financial support, but also, for example, to discuss questions about how right-wing extremist teachers can be removed from civil service as quickly as possible.
Giffey and Seehofer should now write a key point paper and then convince their groups.
About why democracy must be promoted in these times.
Höckes Welle - How the Thuringian AfD boss wants to use the corona fear
Visit to a stubborn man
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Sergei Lavrov (left) and Alexander Lukashenko (archive photo)
Photo: --- / dpa
More than three months ago,
Alexander Lukashenko
declared
himself
President of Belarus again after a questionable election.
Since
then, thousands have taken to the streets, and the ruler has reacted with violence and arrests.
The European Union did not recognize the election and imposed sanctions on Lukashenko and other government representatives.
Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
is currently
visiting Minsk
.
Will he put pressure on the regime to end the violence against the protesters?
My colleague and Russia correspondent Christian Esch is certain that Moscow will demand at least a plan from Lukashenko, for example on the question of how the announced constitutional reform will proceed.
At the same time, the two governments will discuss how to
react to
the EU's sanctions
.
The EU had also decided against Russia after the poison attack on the opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
Finally, Lavrov is also likely to express his concern about the future of the Russian Belgazprombank, a subsidiary of the Kremlin-affiliated company Gazprom.
The head of the bank also wanted to run for president in Belarus and was arrested.
He is still in custody today.
SPIEGEL interview with Svetlana Alexievich: "I have the feeling that in the West you don't understand what is happening in Belarus."
Film of the day ...
Icon: enlarge
Diego Maradona kisses the World Cup (1986)
Photo: via www.imago-images.de / imago images / Colorsport
... is
"Diego Maradona"
by Asif Kapadia.
To hear him, the idol of countless young people, including me, talk and play again is perhaps the most beautiful memory of this great little man and his eventful life.
"In terms of football, it was an event, everyone should consider himself or herself happy who saw him play," writes my colleague Peter Ahrens in his obituary for Maradona, who died yesterday of a heart attack.
I was one of the lucky ones - and I'm actually happy about that.
Second, I would like to suggest a film by my colleague Markus Feldenkirchen.
He
accompanied
the North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister
Armin Laschet
in the election campaign, in conversation with his advisors, in the church.
The result is not only a deep look into the life of those who would like to become chancellor, but also an unusual format: At the end, the filmmaker confronts the protagonist with his film and lets him have another say.
You can see what Laschet has to say about Laschet this evening at 8:15 p.m. on WDR television or in the media library.
Why Jens Spahn remains second - excerpts from the documentary
The latest news from the night
AfD defends party congress with 600 delegates in the middle of the pandemic:
"Preferably in a face-to-face event": The AfD holds its party congress on the weekend - despite the corona crisis.
No problem for chairman Jörg Meuthen
Denmark is fighting against the zombie mink:
Millions of minks had to be killed in Denmark because of the corona risk - and were buried en masse.
Sometimes not deep enough, as the Danish police now have to admit
Schleswig-Holstein does not want to implement all Corona resolutions:
Chancellor Merkel and the heads of government of the federal states laboriously agreed on new Corona measures.
But Schleswig-Holstein is leaving
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I wish you a good start to the day!
Your Martin Knobbe
