Icon: enlarge
Main building of the Berlin University Clinic Charité: unusual gesture of solidarity
Photo: Christophe Gateau / dpa
With an unusual gesture, Chancellor Angela Merkel underscored the government's solidarity with Alexey Navalny.
According to SPIEGEL information, the Chancellor visited the Russian opposition politician in a top-secret operation at the bedside of the Charité in Berlin.
There Navalny was treated after trying to kill him with the neurotoxin Novichok.
The secret visit to Navalny is another sign of how much the Chancellor is committed to Navalny and is not ready to let the case rest.
The fact that the Chancellor herself visited the opposition politician should be a clue for the Russian government that Berlin will not give in on the case and will find out the truth.
Russia denies everything
So far Moscow has denied any involvement in the attempted murder in late August.
Instead, media loyal to the state, but also the spokesmen for ministries, keep spreading new theories about the attack on Navalny.
The sometimes obscure references go so far that Navalny was not poisoned on Russian soil but only in Germany.
President Vladimir Putin personally participated in such speculations.
Shortly after the first reports of the attack on Navalny, Merkel personally campaigned on his campaign trip to Siberia to ensure that the opposition politician could be flown to Germany for medical treatment.
Navalny had collapsed on a domestic flight to Moscow.
Only the emergency landing of the jet in the city of Omsk saved his life.
After days of negotiations, Navalny was finally brought to Germany in a coma with a special jet from the clinic in Omsk.
He is now much better, he was even able to leave the Charité last week, but is still receiving medical care.
Long-term effects of poisoning are possible
However, the doctors do not yet know whether he will suffer any long-term effects from the poison attack.
After his arrival in Berlin, Merkel was informed daily about Navalny's condition and the progress of the doctors.
Politically, the case is highly explosive.
First of all, a special Bundeswehr laboratory had determined on the basis of blood and urine samples that Navalny had been poisoned with the neurotoxin Novitschok. At that time, the federal government spoke with astonishing clarity of "unambiguous" evidence.
The Chancellery also asked special laboratories in France and Sweden to examine the Navalny samples for traces of Novichok.
Both came to the same conclusion as the Bundeswehr experts.
By passing it on to other laboratories, Berlin wanted to avoid being left alone in the explosive case.
For the German government, the mere use of the globally outlawed neurotoxin is a clear indication that Russian state agencies are behind the murder plot.
As the poison is very difficult to manufacture and use, experts believe that possible perpetrators are excluded from the criminal milieu.
In addition, Navalny was monitored almost completely by the Russian domestic secret service FSB during his stay in Tomsk.
Putin participates in confused speculation
The Russian President himself, however, participated in rather confused speculations about the course of the crime.
In a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, Putin is said to have even brought into play possible self-poisoning.
According to a report by Le Monde, Putin told Macron that Navalny could have self-administered the neurotoxin Novichok.
more on the subject
Icon: Spiegel PlusIcon: Spiegel Plus Attack on Putin's feared opponent: The Navalny plot
After the talks between Putin and Macron a good two weeks ago, the Russian embassy in Berlin only announced that Putin had categorically rejected the German allegations against his government.
"Vladimir Putin pointed out that unfounded, unfounded allegations against the Russian side that were made in this context are out of place," the embassy website said.
Originally, the EU wanted to discuss possible punitive actions against Russia at the meeting of the heads of state and government, but the mini-summit planned for the end of last week was spontaneously canceled because the EU Council President Charles Michel had to go into quarantine due to suspected corona.
OPCW ends investigation this week
However, this week could be decisive for the further action of the EU and also the US.
Berlin, for example, turned on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and also provided the experts there with samples.
The results of the OPCW investigation are now expected this week.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had already announced that the US would also impose punitive measures against Russia if the OPCW was confirmed.
In this case, Germany relies on concerted action by the EU.
In the past, for example when the Russian double agent Skripal was poisoned, Russian diplomats were expelled as part of a punitive action.
In Germany, a stop to the "Nord Stream 2" pipeline project is now being discussed because of the Navalny case.
Icon: The mirror