Visiting Putin's eternal chief diplomat
Sergey Lavrov
has been Russia's foreign minister for 18 years.
He has seen German counterparts come and go: Joschka Fischer, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Guido Westerwelle, Steinmeier again, Sigmar Gabriel, Heiko Maas.
Now he is dealing with the first woman to head the Foreign Office.
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Annalena Baerbock during her visit to Kiev
Photo: Janine Schmitz/photothek.de / imago images/photothek
Annalena Baerbock is in Moscow today for her inaugural visit
, at a time when Russia is gathering tens of thousands of soldiers and tanks on the border with Ukraine, and when the danger of war in Eastern Europe is growing by the day.
On Monday, the Green Foreign Minister was in Kiev to assure the Ukrainian government of Germany's support - promising arms deliveries or the end of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline were not among them.
Baerbock warned Russia of a military escalation: "Any renewed aggression would have a high price."
Lavrov, Putin's eternal, fierce chief diplomat, will not be impressed by such pithy announcements
- especially since it is actually not foreseeable what this price will look like.
The 71-year-old will certainly not let the new girl from Berlin lecture him publicly.
Lavrov prefers to reserve that for his guests, as he did last year when he presented EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on an open stage.
Baerbock's Russia-critical attitude, her reservations about Nord Stream 2, her warnings in the Ukraine conflict would certainly be reason enough for Lavrov to teach her German colleague a lesson.
But, as my Moscow colleague Christina lever says,
"he really shouldn't dupe Baerbock too much on her first visit," so as not to upset Olaf Scholz right away.
Because the Kremlin is counting on the fact that Scholz will ensure a rather milder course towards Russia in the long term.
After all, Putin has had good experiences with the last social democratic chancellor.
It remains to be hoped that Baerbock will
at least not be dissuaded from a few clear words
in Moscow due to such tactical considerations and the threat of Lavrov's counterattack .
My colleague Christoph Schult is there.
Foreign Minister Baerbock in Kiev and Moscow: In the eye of the hurricane
Corona hope, Corona carelessness
Do you feel the same?
Corona impacts everywhere
, among friends, among colleagues, in school and daycare;
matching the number of infections that Germany has not experienced in the entire pandemic.
And yet, I can't help it:
It all doesn't feel as dramatic
as it did a few weeks ago, or even last winter.
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Positive corona rapid test
Photo: Sebastian Gollnow / dpa
Are we just Corona tired?
Am I becoming reckless?
Or are we really on the way back to freedom thanks to the mostly milder omicron courses?
If only there were simple answers in this pandemic.
Christian Drosten gives us hope
, says that at some point you have to let the virus run.
But the virologist warns at the same time: The vaccination gap is still too large for infection, especially among the elderly.
Karl Lauterbach, the Federal Minister of Health, sees “no reason to give the all-clear”
and still fears problems for the health system if the hospitals fill up again simply because of the sheer number of infected people.
"Omicron does not replace vaccination,"
he says - and promotes
compulsory vaccination, which politicians are suddenly no longer debating with quite as much enthusiasm
.
Let's not be credulous: It's a nice idea that the curves will once again climb to hitherto unknown heights without Omikron really being able to harm us, so that it will all be over very soon.
But it's just one scenario out of many.
Most other scenarios look less nice: overloaded clinics, many seriously ill or even dead, because Omicron's mildness is only relative, especially for the unvaccinated or the elderly, new, more dangerous virus variants.
Doesn't everything feel so dramatic?
The winter could last a long time.
And the pandemic too, when things are going badly.
How compulsory vaccination divides the country and the government: A quantum of fear – the SPIEGEL cover story
Breivik is looking for the stage
It is an outrageous desire:
Anders Behring Breivik, right-wing extremist mass murderer, terrorist and Islam hater, wants to be released early from prison.
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Utøya island near Oslo
Photo: YAY Micro via www.imago-images.d / imago images/YAY Micro
Ten and a half years ago, Breivik detonated a car bomb in the government district of Oslo, killing eight people.
He then massacred the participants of the summer camp of a social democratic youth organization on the island of Utøya.
He murdered 69 people, mostly young people.
Breivik was found guilty in 2012 and sentenced to a maximum sentence of 21 years with possible subsequent preventive detention. To date, the man, who now wants to be called Fjotolf Hansen,
has shown no remorse.
During the trial he boasted about his actions, and at a later hearing about his prison conditions he gave the Hitler salute. And yet Breivik wants parole now that he has served the minimum 10-year sentence – because he no longer poses a threat to society.
It is unlikely that the court in Skien, which from today must deal with Breivik's request under Norwegian law, will follow his reasoning.
Breivik probably doesn't believe in it himself.
It should be about something else: attention.
There is great concern that the right-wing extremist is only looking for the public stage to once again spread his extremist views.
Three days of negotiations are scheduled for this week, the decision will probably not be made until later.
Mass Murder of Utøya: The Terrorist and the Arsonists
Winner of the day...
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Roberta Metsola
Photo: GONZALO FUENTES / REUTERS
… is Roberta Metsola.
Thanks to a deal between the EPP, Liberals and Social Democrats, the European Parliament is likely to elect the conservative Maltese as its new President this Tuesday – on her 43rd birthday.
Metsola is already filling this role as managing director after the Italian David Sassoli passed away shortly before the end of his tenure.
Metsola would be the youngest president in the history of Parliament, the first woman to hold the position in 20 years – and the third ever (out of 28 men!).
For the first time, a politician from the smallest member state of the EU would also head the parliament.
The favorite is not entirely undisputed: Metsola is a rigorous opponent of abortion, and her home country is the last country in the EU to completely ban abortion.
Many in Parliament do not like this attitude.
Metsola's election will not prevent criticism.
The latest news from the night
Britain supplies arms to Ukraine:
Ukraine will receive light defensive anti-tank weapons from Britain in the face of a possible invasion by Russia.
However, they should only be used for self-defense.
Meanwhile, Olaf Scholz is threatening sanctions
Seven-day incidence in Germany rises to 553.2:
The RKI registered 193 new deaths related to the corona virus within 24 hours.
In addition to the seven-day incidence, there is also a new high in the number of new infections
Does the CDU in Saxony-Anhalt want to abolish the ARD main program?
Minister of State Rainer Robra wants to abolish the station "Das Erste".
The CDU in Saxony-Anhalt supports this, a newspaper reported.
After the publication, the faction is now rowing back
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Have a good day.
Heartfelt,
Yours, Philip Wittrock