Navalny reports
"You don't feel pain, but you know you are dying."
When Alexei Navalny describes the moment when the neurotoxin began to work in him, he was sitting on a green sofa in the SPIEGEL office in the capital.
It is still dark outside, it is shortly after 6 a.m. on Wednesday yesterday, the Russian opposition politician gives my two colleagues Christian Esch and Benjamin Bidder his first big interview after the attack early in the morning.
Navalny looks excited, he jokes, he laughs a lot.
At first glance, you don't see that this man was in a coma for days and was about to die.
When he tries to pour himself out of a bottle of water, however, it only succeeds with great effort, his hands are trembling so much.
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Alexei Navalny
Photo:
Uncredited / dpa
Bodyguards accompany Navalny around the clock and they pay attention to the details: the bottle of sparkling water that we placed on the table for the interview guest was selected by one of the officials from the many bottles in the editorial refrigerator.
The random choice increases the feeling of security.
Navalny spoke for almost two hours, and he also said whom he suspected of being an assassin: "I claim that Putin was behind the crime and I have no other versions of the crime."
Navalny also announces that he will return to Russia.
"My job now is to stay the guy who's not scared. And I'm not scared!"
You can read the big interview with Navalny from 9 a.m. on SPIEGELPlus or on Friday in the new SPIEGEL magazine.
Advising EU tips
In the Navalny case, the EU could show that it is more capable of acting than is attributed to it.
If today the European heads of state and government come together a week late for the special EU summit, then the poison attack on the opposition politicians will also be on the agenda.
Germany had emphasized that when it came to the question of how to react to the attack, it was counting on a European answer.
The only question is whether Europe can ever agree on an answer.
Further topics for the two-day summit: relations with China, the escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, demands for sanctions against Turkey and the contentious role of Cyprus.
Happiness sounds different.
Dispute over the rule of law within the EU
Scheuer fights
There are serious suspicions in the room: Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer may have broken budget and public procurement law when planning the car toll.
And later, after the project was declared illegal by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), he allegedly lied to Parliament.
The CSU politician, it can be assumed, will vehemently reject these allegations when he testifies before the Bundestag's toll investigation committee today.
If he is allowed to.
It is possible that the minister's turn today is no longer possible, because the Union parliamentary group had the former Secretary of State for Transport, Gerhard Schulz (nicknamed "Mr. Maut") put on the list of witnesses, in addition to those who are already on it: the representatives who are in a consortium should operate the toll and now want compensation from the federal government.
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Andreas Scheuer
Photo: JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP
The focus will probably be on the question of whether the operators have offered the minister to wait until the ECJ has made its judgment before signing the toll contract.
Scheuer is said to have refused.
Instead, he pushed for a contract to be signed before the European judges take their decision.
And that despite the fact that advisors warned him not to be too hasty.
Today Scheuer denies that there was such an offer from the operator.
"No, there was no such offer," he said in the Bundestag.
If the operators stick to their point of view, it could be a showdown today.
Then word against word would be.
Then you would at least know: someone lied.
The company's own advisors warned Scheuer about its toll strategy
Winner of the day
... are the virologist Christian Drosten and the Heinsberg district administrator Stephan Pusch, who today receive the announced medals of merit from the Federal President with 13 others.
During the corona crisis, both showed what good communication means.
Drosten by constantly explaining himself and his science.
He led us purposefully, sometimes stubbornly, through the thicket of the latest knowledge.
Hardly any other scientist has tried so hard to explain, not least through his podcast.
Knowing that his permanent presence also offends and triggers hatred.
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Christian Drosten
Photo: Michael Kappeler / DPA
Pusch also communicated a lot and remained authentic.
So he did not hide his anger when a football match between Dortmund and Mönchengladbach was allowed to take place with spectators in March while schools and daycare centers were closed at the same time.
"Of course, I would like to have explained that in more detail," said Pusch.
The district administrator impresses with his carefree honesty - not only the citizens of his district.
Win cards
I would like to draw your attention to an event in our SPIEGEL Live series, which - seldom enough these days - is not only taking place virtually but also entirely analogue, of course with strict hygiene and distance rules.
"Eat what is good for me" is the motto of the evening tomorrow, Friday, October 2, 2020, at 7.30 p.m. in the Urania Berlin.
My colleague, SPIEGEL editor Markus Deggerich, talks to his guests about the new dining class.
Eating is much more than ingesting food: it's love, family, home, science, and a business.
Also on the podium are:
CC Gambeex: as an artist and chef, he has been running the Berlin slow food restaurant "Ponte Carlo" since 2008.
Andre Göbel: Co-founder of the "Knalle" Cornditorei, which has reinvented popcorn as a successful startup (including a great tasting).
Markus Wältring: Top chef of regional Westphalian cuisine, whose family business Corona did not survive.
Maria Bögge: has not written a cookbook, does not run a blog, and does not sit in TV cooking shows - but as an over 80-year-old mother, gardener and family cook, she knows everything about old kitchen tricks and sensible storage, beyond hoarding yeast and toilet paper We are giving away 5x2 cards.
If you would like to take part in the event, send us an email to info@spiegelgruppe-veranstaltungen.de.
More information can be found here.
The latest news from the night
Accusations from within:
Republicans criticize Trump for not distancing himself from racists.
Donald Trump did not want to condemn racists in the TV duel with Joe Biden.
For this it is now criticizing its own party.
Cologne singer is allowed to leave prison in Turkey prematurely:
The accusation was membership in a terrorist organization.
In November 2018, the German-Kurdish singer Hozan Cane was sentenced to six years and three months in prison in Turkey.
Her release has now been ordered.
Several rockets hit near Camp Erbil:
attackers attacked the international coalition camp in Erbil.
Apparently no one was injured in the rocket fire.
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
Persecuted in Venezuela: How Maduro is abusing the corona crisis
Economic aid against the corona crisis: Foot off the debt brake!
Pastor in Thuringia: the Stasi victim and the GDR understanders
Wolfgang Niedecken on money and wealth: "I admit that was a mistake"
I wish you a good start to the day.
Your Martin Knobbe
