1. Maassen's past as an intelligence officer
Hans-Georg Maassen has arrived in the dirty corner of the internet.
He now presents himself on Gettr, a self-proclaimed alternative to "left-green censorship platforms."
A number of right-wing extremists cavort there.
In interviews he smells dark powers, "socialist and globalist forces".
Offices for the protection of the constitution say that some of Maaßen's statements are not far removed from what they are officially dealing with.
One could almost forget that Maassen was one of the leading representatives of our state for a long time.
For six years he headed the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
Was he a different person then?
Has his inclination to conspiracy theories already been indicated?
Former head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hans-Georg Maassen
Photo:
Axel Schmidt/ REUTERS
A SPIEGEL team has researched Maassen's past in office.
Maik Baumgärtner, Jörg Diehl, Martin Knobbe, Ann-Katrin Müller and Wolf Wiedmann-Schmidt spoke to people who worked closely with him.
They found that even then, Maaßen liked to ignore dangers from the far right, which Maassen has always denied.
His authority only observed the “identitarian movement” after eleven federal states had taken the step.
Maassen therefore also slowed down an early involvement with the AfD.
According to SPIEGEL research, at a meeting with constitutional protection officers from the federal states, the head of a state office asked why the AfD was not doing anything yet.
The statements of the Thuringian AfD boss Björn Höcke, for example, were enough for a test case.
Participants report that a quiet murmur went through the hall.
Maassen replied that there was nothing there, so nothing was done.
A misjudgment, as we know today: Six state associations and nationwide the - now formally dissolved - "wing" around the right-wing extremist Thuringian state leader Höcke are now being observed.
There is a suspicion that Maassen even warned the AfD.
In November 2015, at a time when the party was not yet in the Bundestag, he met Frauke Petry, then head of the AfD, twice.
In between, he took part in a meeting in the Saarland Ministry of the Interior, which dealt with the AfD state association and its proximity to right-wing extremist groups.
There will soon be enough reasons to have the party in Saarland observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, it said at the meeting.
According to an AfD board member, Maassen warned of right-wing extremist activities in Saarland at his next meeting with Petry - a little later the federal party announced that it would dissolve the state association.
Did Maassen help the AfD?
That would be an outrage.
Maassen rejects the accusation of advice.
But what exactly he discussed with the AfD, he has not revealed to this day.
Read the whole story here: The legacy of Dr.
measure
2.
NATO needs a new boss - and a better Russia strategy?
NATO, Germany's protective umbrella, will soon need a new boss.
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will leave office after eight years to head the Norwegian central bank.
This was announced by Norway's Ministry of Finance in Oslo today.
Stoltenberg's departure comes at a difficult time for NATO as tensions with Russia mount. Putin has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine and is barely veiling threats of an invasion. The NATO partners are looking for a strategy. And Germany is considered by some to be unreliable because the federal government is not breaking away from the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The fact that ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, as it was announced today, is to join the supervisory board of the Russian state-owned company Gazprom will not help to calm things down.
To be clear: Putin is the villain in this game.
But NATO also makes mistakes, as my colleague Christian Esch analyses: »In the middle of one of the biggest security crises in Europe, in which diplomacy is needed like never before, NATO has proven that it cannot do diplomacy.« Whereas the US government is showing how to do better in dealing with Putin.
Christian compares two confidential letters that became public this week.
One from NATO headquarters in Brussels, one from the US government in Washington.
Both letters went to Russia, both clearly rejecting the maximum demands that Moscow is making.
Enlarge image
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Photo:
ALEXEY DRUZHININ / AFP
But there are big differences in content and tone, writes Christian. While the US government wrote a serious, detailed letter considering compromises, the NATO letter comes across as a press officer's listless response to a student inquiry. "While Washington is cleverly combining toughness and flexibility in order to get negotiations going at all, NATO is practicing denial of reality."
As a Moscow correspondent, Christian knows the situation in Russia.
He writes: »One does not have to share Putin's view of the eastward expansion of NATO, and certainly one must not concede that he wants to subsequently combat this expansion with military threats.
But that this eastward enlargement naturally affected Russia's security interests, and that the overwhelming majority of the Russian elite saw these interests ignored by NATO, is a fact without which the current conflict is simply incomprehensible.
Anyone who denies them does so at the expense of their own security.«
Whoever succeeds Stoltenberg at the head of NATO could allow this perspective.
Read the full comment here: NATO has made it very easy for itself
3.
Joe Kaeser eavesdrops on his neighbors in business class
Enlarge image
Photo:
Pool/Getty Images
Curse of the frequent traveller: You're sitting on the train, wanting to doze, think, read your newspaper, but a few seats away someone is yelling into their mobile phone or spooking the company sales conference with the person sitting next to you.
Apparently, the former Siemens boss Joe Kaeser, born Josef Käser, had a similar experience.
Except that Kaeser didn't take the train, but sat at the front of the plane, where politicians also have their seats:
"I'm sitting on the plane to Munich right now in the middle of the MPs, who are audibly happy about the weekend ... and are also exchanging internals across the aisle," Kaeser complained on Twitter: "Some with CSU ribbons.
One of the FDP, who used to write flat columns in tabloid magazines.
Roughly figuring out how many of these I'm financing with my income tax... Don't know if this money couldn't be better spent.
For higher salaries for nurses, police officers... and many people who are REALLY there for the citizens every day.«
Yes, the regulars' table rejoices.
Except maybe the regulars' table for former Siemens employees whose jobs were cut under Kaeser.
You know the "Those up there are stuffing their pockets full and they're doing it all with our money" sound from Pegida demonstrations.
Kaeser used to attract attention because of his proximity to politicians.
In 2014 he met Vladimir Putin ("We are committed to a long-term partnership in values"), and in 2018 he served in Davos in front of his neighbor Donald Trump ("Congratulations on the tax reform").
After the Khashoggi murder, it was only with difficulty that he was prevented from attending an investor conference held by Saudi blood ruler Mohammed bin Salman.
Kaeser's statement sparked opposition on social media.
Thomas Sattelberger, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Education, identified himself as the FDP politician named by Kaeser.
He insisted, however, that he had not exchanged anything but just sat in his seat in silence.
But who were the CSU?
What secrets was it?
Why did Kaeser fly at all instead of taking an ICE that Siemens helped build?
And doesn't it actually mean "internals" instead of "internals"?
Read the full fiction here: Briefly, he toyed with the idea of simply buying the plane and the pilot
(Would you like to receive the "Situation in the evening" conveniently by e-mail in your inbox? Here you can order the daily briefing as a newsletter.)
What else is important today
Russia and China jointly demand a stop to NATO expansion:
Solidarity shortly before the Olympics in Beijing: At the meeting between Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and President Xi Jinping, both demanded that NATO stop its expansion plans in Eastern Europe.
"There would have been enough time to get the people out of there":
134 people died in July in the flood disaster in the Ahr valley.
The weather expert Karsten Schwanke has now made a statement in the investigative committee – and pointed out the well-known risk of flooding.
Descendant of the last king wants to ban "Free Saxony" from using a coat of arms:
Right- wing extremists want to include the former Saxon royal family in their plans.
But the descendant of Augustus the Strong has no interest in this and, according to SPIEGEL information, has announced legal action.
Father can have children vaccinated against his ex-wife's will:
What to do if parents argue about whether their child should be vaccinated against Corona?
According to a family court in Lower Saxony, the decision lies with the parent, who follows the Stiko's recommendations.
Car expert calls for penalty tax on combustion engines:
The VAT for diesel and petrol cars should be increased noticeably - says car specialist Ferdinand Dudenhöffer.
For example, e-cars would be indirectly promoted if the purchase premium for them was removed.
My favorite story today: A marriage proposal from Roberto Blanco
What do B-celebrities do when the celebrity circus is at a standstill because of Corona?
They hire themselves out as announcers of greetings and improve their cash register.
"For some it is the last resort before the jungle camp," write my colleagues Alexander Kühn and Anton Rainer.
For example Roberto Blanco.
He records the little films with his mobile phone, Blanco wears a sweater instead of a tuxedo, and towards the end he likes to sing his hit »A little fun has to be«.
On the Memmo platform, Blanco reads out messages with a maximum of 260 characters for 100 euros.
For another 25 euros there are 600 keystrokes on top.
An upgrade of 50 euros guarantees »24h express delivery«.
But he has also turned down orders.
For example, when he was supposed to call a grandfather an "old sow", that's what the grandson wanted.
"That's not my style," Roberto Blanco said to my colleagues on the phone.
Otherwise, the entertainer does pretty much everything for money: he congratulates fans by video on their birthday or wishes them a merry Christmas.
Once he even sent a woman a marriage proposal at the request of her loved one.
"She said yes."
Read the whole story here: A marriage proposal from Roberto Blanco for 100 euros
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL+
Is infestation the better vaccine?
It is said that sooner or later you will have to deal with Omikron anyway.
Then you could also infect yourself in a targeted manner in order to become immune.
What to make of this strategy.
Stuttgart 21 will be a billion euros more expensive:
The costs of the controversial Stuttgart 21 project will climb to 9.2 billion euros.
According to SPIEGEL information, this is what a report says.
The supervisory board of the railway is to meet for a special meeting.
René Benko's billion-dollar monopoly:
his deals are sly, his empire devoured.
With risk and sophistication, René Benko has created a real estate empire.
What can the Austrians do that others cannot?
And where does all the money come from?
The Olympic Theater and the dangerous arrogance of a superpower:
For fear of Corona, the Winter Games are taking place in an encapsulated parallel world.
But China is also isolating itself politically and economically.
Observations from a country between contentment, stubbornness and hubris.
A Moderna clone from Africa: The Cape Town company Afrigen has developed a pirate version of the Moderna vaccine.
It is to be produced worldwide – bypassing patent payments.
Which is less important today
Enlarge image
Photo:
Royal Mail/AP
Long stick the queen:
Queen Elizabeth II,
95, gets a special gift from the UK Post Office.
The Royal Mail is issuing a series of special stamps to mark the jubilee.
They show the Queen at public appearances, for example alongside her husband Prince Philip in Washington in 1957, at a military parade in 1978 or during a visit by the secret service MI6 in 2020. »These stamps are a celebration of the second Elizabethan era and a tribute to a remarkable life of duty and public service," said Royal Mail boss Simon Thompson.
Next Sunday it will be 70 years since Elizabeth became Queen.
But the biggest celebrations are not until the beginning of June, because of the probably better weather.
There is an additional non-working holiday for the subjects.
Typo of the day
, now corrected: "Erdoğans offered to mediate between Russia and Ukraine."
Cartoon of the Day:
Outbreak
And on the weekend?
The Olympic Games in Beijing started today.
In the past, that would have meant: Please do not disturb, I'll be living in front of the television for the next few weeks.
But this time I'm out.
The youth of the world visiting a country that now largely doesn't care about the rest of the world: I can't understand that.
Instead of watching others do sports, you could start moving yourself again.
My colleague Detlef Hacke wrote a text three years ago about the physical decline in men over 50, which you have to counteract through sport.
Photo:
Westend61/ imago images
Central message: Only muscle helps with the back.
The text is one of the most read articles in recent years;
I'm sure you've already met him on SPIEGEL.de.
The text ends with: »There is only one thing left: start.
Preferably today.” Let's see if I can pull it off.
I enjoyed accompanying you through the week.
My colleague Oliver Trenkamp will welcome you next Monday.
Have a nice weekend,
yours sincerely, Alexander Neubacher
Here you can order the »Situation in the Evening« by e-mail.
