Pretty good friends
It's not as if the relationship between US President
Joe Biden
and Poland has always been untroubled, which was also noticeable in the little things.
The US administration took notice that Poland's President
Andrzej Duda
was unusually late in congratulating the newly elected US President on his election victory.
It may have been because Duda had maintained a close relationship with Biden's predecessor ,
Donald Trump
, for years, and habits are hard to break.
Even when the USA signed an
agreement with Germany on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline
in July 2021 , the Poles, always opponents of the project, had a cold.
That same year, Poland passed a controversial media law that also targeted a TV station with American involvement.
The small and large skirmishes are forgotten.
It's war, which is why Poland is extremely important to the US.
The country shares a 500-kilometer border with Ukraine.
At the same time, it is the destination for a large part of the 2.2 million refugees.
Joe Biden has been in Poland since yesterday.
He visited soldiers of the
82nd Airborne Division
, today he meets Duda and gives a speech at the Warsaw Royal Castle.
For Poland, this visit is above all an important symbol and sign – also against Russia.
The big brother, that's how you read it, extends the protective hand - and doesn't let go of it at first.
Refugees in Poland: How a country outgrows itself
How's Germany?
Not good, at least by the numbers.
According to an Allensbach survey, only 19 percent of people are optimistic about the near future, which is the lowest value since 1949.
According to a Civey survey, 41 percent feel psychologically affected by the war, 62 percent fear that the war in Ukraine could escalate into World War III, and 78 percent expect a global economic crisis.
I can understand the bad mood.
At the same time, there is also good news in this war: the country and all of Europe are experiencing a
hitherto unknown solidarity
.
There is a sudden openness to address all topics, including previous taboos.
The chancellor has found the right name for this phase:
turning point
in time .
A nice term, now it just needs to be filled with content.
The urgent task now arises, writes the Slovenian philosopher
Slavoj Žižek
in a guest article for SPIEGEL, "to civilize civilizations themselves and to enforce solidarity and cooperation between all human communities".
How people in Germany are dealing with this turning point, how their mood is, what hopes there are, what fears - you can read that in a large report in the new SPIEGEL.
Society: How the war changed Germany
Totally underestimated
The CDU apparently does not believe in a victory in the
state elections in Saarland
next Sunday.
In any case,
Friedrich Merz , the new chairman, canceled an election campaign date with incumbent
Tobias Hans
, saying he was still needed in Berlin.
SPD candidate
Anke Rehlinger
, on the other hand, received plenty of visitors from Berlin: the chairmen Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil, for example, and even the chancellor did the honors.
Has the Union given up on the federal state long ago?
Such an
early capitulation would be fatal and also unfair
.
One may make fun of the size of the country and its terrible dialects, but one thing is undisputed: Saarland has produced a surprising number of well-known personalities, on average probably more than most other countries.
So that this special achievement is not forgotten, here is a small selection of real Saarlanders:
Nicole, Frank Farian, Philipp Jakob Siebenpfeiffer, Dieter Thomas Heck, Peter Hartz, Frank Fahrian, Peter Altmaier, Heiko Maas, Erich Honecker, Max Ophüls, Willi Graf, Patrick Kuehnen, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Rudi Assauer
Left: Why Saarland can turn red again in the state elections
memory of the day...
...is the indication that the
clock
will be changed the following night, namely from two to three o'clock.
Incidentally, the reason why there is a separate summer time at all is highly topical: During the oil crisis in the 1970s, people wanted to save energy, just like we do today.
history repeats itself.
The latest news from the night
Operators of the failed car toll are entitled to compensation:
After the car toll was stopped, the intended operators had demanded compensation from Germany.
The then CSU Transport Minister Scheuer rejected the claims.
An arbitral tribunal has now ruled: wrongly
Biden compares the resistance of the Ukrainians with the Tiananmen protests:
US President Biden visited his troops stationed in Poland just 90 kilometers from the war zone.
He praised the Ukrainians' commitment – and at the same time attacked their rival China
Drosten warns against Corona carelessness:
According to the virologist Christian Drosten, the pandemic should not be underestimated from now on.
There should be no unreflective opening.
Drosten also expects infections in the summer
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
Children's hospital at war: bombs on the weakest
Financial transactions in times of war: are bitcoins the currency of freedom – or will the bubble soon burst?
Digital expert on cryptocurrencies: "We're being offered an awful lot of blockchain bullshit"
Refugees from Ukraine: Why is Germany so poorly prepared for vulnerable women and children?
Crisis management in politics: This is how the Corona dispute came about
I wish you a relaxing and fulfilling weekend!
Yours, Martin Knobbe