Munich Siko: Bill Gates with an unexpected vaccination statement: "Omicron has done a better job"

Created: 02/19/2022, 06:06

By: Florian Naumann, Sven Hauberg

The 58th Munich Security Conference has begun.

More than 30 heads of state and government are expected.

The main focus is on Russia - without Russia.

• The Munich Security Conference starts on Friday in the midst of the Ukraine conflict - numerous guests have been invited, but not all have come

  (see first report).

• Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock addressed Vladimir Putin with harsh words at the start - and defended Germany's course in the dispute over arms deliveries

  (updates from February 18, 2:17 p.m. and 2:42 p.m.).

• When will the corona pandemic end?

  This is also what SiKo is about.

  "Omicron has done a better job than vaccination," says Bill Gates.

  (

  see update of February 18, 5:37 p.m.

  )

• This

  news ticker for the Munich Security Conference

  is continuously updated.

Security conference in Munich: The first day is over - Olaf Scholz (SPD) is supposed to speak on Saturday

Update from February 18, 7.35 p.m

.: The first day of the Munich Security Conference comes to an end after debates on the Russia-Ukraine crisis, climate change and the preservation of democracy against populist attacks.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) and German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) had given speeches, with Baerbock addressing serious words to Russia (see update from 2:42 p.m.).

After the speech by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyern, a speech by the new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is expected on Saturday.

US Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to speak after him.

The 58th Security Conference will take place without Russia taking part.

Munich Security Conference: Defense Minister Lambrecht (SPD) on Germany's role in NATO

Update from February 18, 7:04 p.m .:

The German Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) emphasized Germany’s contribution to NATO at the Munich Security Conference.

As a democratic state, Germany also has a special responsibility in view of the Ukraine crisis, she said.

"We don't just have to be able to defend ourselves.

We must also help others who are struggling for their freedom, their self-determination, their democracy.”

The "strength of democracy" also comes into play in the crisis between Russia and Ukraine.

"It is this force that allows us to stick together when threatened," said Lambrecht.

"In view of the threatening situation on the Ukrainian border and the pressure on our eastern neighbors, we - the democratic states - have moved closer together." The EU and NATO acted "with great unity and unity".

Munich Security Conference: Bill Gates on Omicron and Vaccines

Update from February 18, 5:37 p.m

.: "We weren't particularly good at developing therapeutics," says Bill Gates at a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference on "When will the pandemic be over?".

Gates believes there will be another pandemic.

"Next time" you should be better - for example, work is currently being done on a universal flu vaccination that gives hope.

"Unfortunately, omicron has done a better job than vaccination," Gates says, speaking of population immunity.

Munich Security Conference: Baerbock and Antony Blinken from the USA close ranks

Update from February 18, 3:15 p.m .:

The round with Antony Blinken and Annalena Baerbock is over.

The demonstrative solidarity between the foreign ministers from Washington and Berlin caught the eye: Blinken addressed Baerbock confidentially as "Annalena", refrained from criticizing the German course in terms of arms deliveries - and repeatedly praised the value of the German contribution to the Ukraine crisis in the form of Grants, mediation and "moral clarity".

At the same time, both Baerbock and Blinken addressed unmistakable words to Moscow.

Baerbock warned of an impending war and a changed security architecture in Europe.

Indirectly, she warned that Russia could enact a return to the “Yalta” system, which was heavily dominated by spheres of influence and military power politics.

Blinken again hinted that Russia could stage pretexts for military intervention in eastern Ukraine.

A very delicate moment came at the end of the panel: the Mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, once again demanded arms deliveries from Germany.

Baerbock defended the German course with the argument that the Federal Republic played an important role as a mediator.

But she also gently rebuked Klitschko - being mayor of Kiev is a different role than that of foreign minister (

).

Antony Blinken and Annalena Baerbock on Friday at the Munich Security Conference - questions were also allowed.

© INA FASSBENDER

Baerbock at the security conference: Klitschko takes the floor - sensitive dialogue follows

Update from February 18, 3:05 p.m .:

The last question belongs to Kiev’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko – he explicitly thanks Germany for the financial support, but then quickly makes a request.

Ukraine is currently a "frontline state," he emphasizes.

"We are ready to fight, we are ready to fight our families for our state," says Klitschko.

"Thank you for the 5,000 helmets, but we can't defend our state with them, it's not enough," he adds.

With a view to Baerbock's already given answer on the subject of arms deliveries, Blinken is given the floor: The USA is there to help, he emphasizes.

"At the same time, I am convinced that the work we are doing here is important," said the US Secretary of State.

He hopes that the solidarity demonstrated will also have an impact.

"We will do everything we can for you, with you and with our partners," emphasizes Blinken.

But the German minister also took the floor again.

"There's a difference between being a mayor in Kiev and a foreign minister in Germany," says Baerbock.

"It's not an easy decision for us," she explains.

"But if we make this decision and then the Normandy format no longer works," then that is also a security threat, argues the Greens.

At the same time, Germany is examining Ukraine's new wish list.

"We have to make sure that the destabilization doesn't happen from within," for example through a lack of investment or a currency collapse, says Baerbock, referring to Germany's financial aid for Ukraine.

Klitschko had already made a similar statement in a round with journalists on Thursday evening, as reported by

.

Update from February 18, 2:55 p.m .:

Shortly thereafter, Baerbock also emphasized a willingness to talk to Moscow: “We invite Russia to talk about the contracts, how we can ensure that we can also guarantee a certain level of security for the world in 2022 "She says, among other things, with a view to the NATO-Russia Founding Act*.

Update from February 18, 2:50 p.m .:

Blinken emphasizes the economic strength of the West: Russia and China * together have about 20 percent of global gross domestic product, the NATO countries would come to about 45 percent.

If the West acts as one, much can be achieved.

Baerbock and Blinken at Siko: Minister defends weapons delivery course - colleague praises "Annalena"

Update from February 18, 2:42 p.m .:

A first question in the panel discussion with Baerbock and Blinken revolves around Germany’s cancellation of arms deliveries to Ukraine.

"I think when you make a decision, you always have to be aware that there are consequences," Baerbock replies - in this light, Germany believes that it is not the time to "turn 180 degrees". rotate.

Germany has a historic responsibility towards Russia and Ukraine.

"We are now saying that we are doing everything we can to strengthen the dialogue," emphasizes Baerbock - "arguments" are needed to deviate from this requirement.

This also applies to the dispute over a comparatively small and indirect delivery of howitzers from old GDR stocks*.

"The others have a different role and that is our strength," added the Foreign Minister, referring to a possible German role as a mediator.

Germany is the largest donor to Ukraine.

In this respect too, the EU and NATO are “united in diversity”.

Blinken agrees with Baerbock.

NATO complement each other in their approach: "Annalena spoke with great moral clarity on the Ukraine issue," he adds in an emphatically familiar tone.

Update from February 18, 2:35 p.m .:

After Baerbock, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken takes the podium.

He again raises accusations against Russia: What is happening in eastern Ukraine follows a well-known scenario: "They are false provocations that are being created".

The announced troop withdrawal did not take place - on the contrary, Russia may be trying to legitimize an attack.

Blinken praises the cooperation between NATO and the EU: The close "standing together" of the partners "quite surprised" Vladimir Putin.

Munich Siko: Baerbock starts with tough words for Putin - "Today there is a threat of war in Europe"

Update from February 18, 2:17 p.m .:

Siko’s first public panel has now begun – Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) has the floor.

She refers to her visit to eastern Ukraine and pictures of a destroyed school, which would have particularly shocked her as a mother.

"Today a new war is threatening in the middle of our Europe," says the minister.

"This crisis is not a Ukraine crisis, it is a Russia crisis," adds Baerbock.

She calls on Russia to "withdraw troops immediately."

The Russian threat is "still real".

"Anyone who wants to live together in safety shouldn't threaten each other," the Foreign Minister exclaimed.

The 130,000 soldiers on the Ukrainian border - Baerbock accidentally speaks of "130 soldiers" - are only to be understood as a threat.

At the same time, the question is whether there is a risk of rule-based cooperation or an order of spheres of influence along the lines of the Yalta Conference of 1945.

Baerbock also talks about China: Where the democracies "leave gaps", in infrastructure projects, in vaccine distribution or in large infrastructure projects, "authoritarian" forces are ready to move up, warns the Green Party.

Baerbock also mentions "private mercenary groups" in this context.

Apparently, what is meant are projects such as China's "New Silk Road"*, "vaccine diplomacy", but probably also the Russian "Wagner Group", whose use recently caused a scandal in Mali.

What is needed is a “clear value compass”.

The moment has come to stand up for a common peace order in Europe.

You can see Baerbock's speech in the BR24 re-live:

Security conference started: Ischinger is optimistic - Guterres warns

Update from February 18, 1:55 p.m .:

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned of moderation in his opening speech at Munich Siko: Public statements should calm conflicts, not fuel them further, he says – probably also in Russia, the USA and Ukraine coined crisis.

Unsurprisingly, he also calls for respect for international law.

"Given the concentration of Russian troops around Ukraine, I am deeply concerned by the rising tensions and speculation of a military conflict in Europe," Guterres said.

"I still don't think it's going to happen," but if it did, "it would be catastrophic," he warned.

Update from February 18, 1:40 p.m .:

The Munich Security Conference officially started a few minutes late: Conference boss Wolfgang Ischinger speaks in his opening words of what is probably the “most important” security of his tenure.

He also refers, but explicitly not only, to the Ukraine crisis - Ischinger also mentions the buzzwords corona pandemic, Afghanistan, refugee movements and climate change: "These crises seem to be mutually dependent," he emphasizes.

"These problems are man-made and if they are man-made, they can be solved," Ischinger explains, referring to the conference's theme of "helplessness"*.

It is important that the conference can be held in person again after a year's break - albeit with only around a third of the usual number of guests in view of the Corona situation.

Ischinger is the first to greet the guests from Ukraine* separately.

Munich Siko: Söder starts with Bavarian beer diplomacy - the start is near

Update from February 18, 1 p.m.:

The gallop to the Munich Security Conference is already underway: Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), for example, welcomed UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and gave him a beer gift, as Twitter photos show.

Things get serious from 1:30 p.m.: Siko boss Wolfgang Ischinger will then officially open the conference.

The first peak is still on Friday.

At 2 p.m., Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) and her US counterpart Antony Blinken will hold a public debate.

The topic is broadly defined with "global challenges" - the Ukraine crisis is likely to play a major role.

There could also be explosives in the evening: At 6.30 p.m. Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi will talk about the danger of an “illiberal wave”.

The title of the round could provide space for discussions about controversial policies by Viktor Orban* or Donald Trump.

Finally, appearances by Söder, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, US Vice President Kamala Harris and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj are on the program on Saturday.

You can follow the highlights of the public rounds on this page in a live stream from Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Kiev's Mayor Wladimir Klitschko spoke to a press conference in Munich on Thursday evening - and appealed to the federal government.

In view of the situation on the Ukrainian border, the focus is also on the past: in 2007 Vladimir Putin had just announced a political turnaround at Munich Siko*.

Munich Security Conference: First high-ranking participant is canceled due to corona

Update from February 18, 10:55 a.m .:

A first senior government representative fails at the Munich Security Conference – due to a positive corona test: On Wednesday, the Swiss President and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, together with Health Minister Alain Berset in Bern, ended practically all corona - Measures announced in Switzerland.

Both sat at a distance, but at times without a mask at a press conference on the podium.

Cassis has now tested positive for Corona and cannot take part in the Siko

Cassis immediately isolated himself after the test and is working from home, the State Department said.

He has no symptoms and is in good health.

Security conference starts on Friday: boss Ischinger sees “really dangerous crises”

Update from February 18, 7:58 a.m .:

The head of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, considers this year’s meeting to be “probably the most important conference” in the 14 years under his leadership.

There have "never been so many urgent and really dangerous crises to be discussed and dealt with at once," Ischinger said on Friday in the ARD "Morgenmagazin" before the start of the 58th Munich Security Conference.

Ischinger described Russia's "reproach about the feeling of a threat" from a possible future NATO membership of Ukraine as "very, very far-fetched".

"It's actually almost absurd, because NATO hasn't taken a single step towards eastward expansion since 2004 (...)," said Ischinger.

It must be asked why Russia is now hanging this question so high.

"Ukraine's NATO membership is not up for debate," said Ischinger, referring to statements by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD)*.

There is "of course something much deeper behind it," said Ischinger: This is "the Russian desire to restore a situation in which the Russian Federation is surrounded by countries that are subordinate to Russia, which should therefore renounce their complete independence and sovereignty “.

In the current situation, it is “really the other way around, nobody is threatening Russia”.

Munich Security Conference: Baerbock regrets the lack of talks with Russia

Update from February 18, 6:40 a.m.:

Talking about Russia, but not with Russia - that could be the unofficial motto of the Munich Security Conference.

For the first time in decades, Moscow is not sending an official delegation.

The West is solely concerned with the Ukraine crisis.

Before the world's most important meeting of experts on security policy, the security situation in Europe had not been as precarious as it was this time.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) wants to use the deliberations of the Western allies in the context of the Munich Security Conference to signal a willingness to engage in dialogue in the Ukraine conflict.

The message must be: "We are ready for a serious dialogue about security for everyone," said Baerbock before leaving for Munich on Friday morning.

With the "unprecedented deployment of troops on the border with Ukraine and demands from the Cold War", Russia has called the "basic principles of the European peace order into question".

She wants to discuss with the allies "how we can counter the logic of threats of violence and military escalation with a logic of dialogue".

She regretted that there would be no talks with Russian representatives in Munich.

Baerbock called on Russia to take "serious steps towards de-escalation: declarations of willingness to talk must be backed up by real offers of talks, declarations of troop withdrawals must be backed up by verifiable troop withdrawals".

The Munich Security Conference is expecting top-class guests - but perhaps the most important thing is missing

Police officers guard the Munich Security Conference 2019: This year the 58th edition of "Siko" will take place.

© Stefan Zeitz/Imago Images

First report from February 17th:

Munich - A Munich security conference under such dramatic global political omens - that has not been the case for a long time.

Around 600 guests are expected in the Bavarian state capital from Friday (February 18) to Sunday, including high-ranking politicians such as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Vice President Kamala Harris.

In total, more than 100 ministers and more than 30 heads of state and government have announced their participation.

One topic should be at the top of the agenda: the crisis in Ukraine* and a possible Russian invasion of the country.

While the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj is also expected and has announced that he will hold a talk on "Ukraine and the European security architecture" on Saturday, the Kremlin - unlike in the past - declined all invitations to high-ranking politicians to the security conference.

The head of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, said he had invited Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, former President Dmitry Medvedev and Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin * - but in vain.

Munich Security Conference: Scholz, Baerbock and Lambrecht take part

Chancellor Olaf Scholz* (SPD), Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) and Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) are coming to Munich for the German government, which has recently been heavily involved in international crisis diplomacy relating to the Russian troop deployment on the border with Ukraine * travel.

Baerbock, as chair of the foreign ministers of the G7 countries, will meet with her colleagues on the sidelines of the conference on Saturday to discuss the Ukraine crisis.

Talks are also planned between Germany, France and Ukraine, i.e. three of the four partners of the Normandy format*, in which an attempt is made with Russia to find a way out of the conflict.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and UN Secretary General António Guterres will also attend the security conference.

Guterres will give a speech on Friday on international cooperation in times of increasing crisis, a UN spokesman said on Wednesday.

He will also conduct a series of one-on-ones;

it was not initially known whether there would be a meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

In addition to the Ukraine crisis and the future of NATO, there will also be intensive discussions in Munich about the challenges posed by climate change.

Secretary of State Baerbock will discuss this at a panel on "International Climate Diplomacy" together with the US government's special envoy for climate issues, John Kerry.

Kamala Harris, the Vice President of the USA, is also expected in Munich.

© Andrew Harnik/picture alliance/dpa/AP Pool

Munich Security Conference: 1000 bottles of wine for the guests

The Munich Security Conference has been taking place since 1963 and is a private event.

After the conference could only be held virtually last year due to the corona pandemic, participants from all over the world will meet again this year at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof* in the center of the Bavarian state capital.

All guests must be vaccinated and PCR tested daily.

Should an infection nevertheless occur, quarantine rooms are kept ready, explained CEO Benedikt Franke of the

.

Many conversations will probably take place again this year in a familiar setting in the back rooms of the spacious luxury hotel.

As the

writes, the Bayerischer Hof has 500 bottles of wine (mainly Riesling), 1,000 bottles of beer and 12,500 soft drinks ready for the guests of the security conference.

Munich Security Conference: 3,800 police officers on duty

Around 3,500 police officers from Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, Thuringia, Berlin, Hesse and Saxony-Anhalt are on duty to protect the 58th Security Conference, as well as another 300 federal police forces.

In the center of Munich there are large-scale closures, and a no-fly zone for drones has been set up.

The area surrounding the hotel is a high security area from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon.

In addition to politicians, numerous demonstrators are also expected in Munich at the weekend.

The action alliance against the NATO security conference announced a large-scale demonstration in Munich's old town on Saturday afternoon;

around twelve other demonstrations were also registered.