Problem case Germany
Anyone who asks Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht which and how many weapons Germany has already delivered or intends to deliver to Ukraine will get no answer.
That's why a team led by my colleague Konstantin von Hammerstein researched the current state of affairs.
So far, the following have been delivered
: 500 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, 2,700 Strela surface-to-air missiles from GDR stocks, 3,000 rocket-propelled grenades, 100 MG 3 machine guns, 16 million rounds of ammunition for various types of small arms, hundreds of anti-tank mines, 80 armored all-terrain vehicles, 50 medical Unimogs, 14 pallets of medical supplies, half a million one-man packs of food, four anti-drone systems, plus night vision goggles and binoculars.
That's not a little. For German standards it is even a lot. A few weeks ago, the federal government didn't want to deliver much apart from helmets. Then came the turning point.
But in an international comparison, the Germans are still making slow progress.
And new news of Russian atrocities comes in every day.
Putin's henchmen on Friday bombed a train station in eastern Ukraine where hundreds of people were waiting to get out of the war zone.
There were dozens dead, including many children.
Konstantin's colleagues report from Estonia, where one wonders how it can be that the small Baltic Republic of Ukraine provides more armaments than large Germany.
According to a state secretary in the Estonian Ministry of Defense, one learned during the most recent visit to Germany that 18 intermediate steps are required there for each release.
In Estonia there are two.
And especially those Europeans who were once hit hard by the euro crisis and Germany's tough stance on it are now showing their irritation at Germany's reluctance to fight the war criminals from the Kremlin.
Bruno Maçães, who was responsible for negotiations with the Germans in Portugal's government during the euro crisis, told SPIEGEL: »At the time, I learned a proverb from my German colleagues.
Better an end with horror than horror without end.
What happened to it?” A rapid gas embargo against Russia is also needed, not just in two or three years: “By then, tens or hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians could be dead.”
You can find more news and background information on the war in Ukraine here:
Attack on civilians in Donbass:
They wanted to flee - then the rocket came:
Hundreds of people were standing at the train station in Kramatorsk, waiting to get out of the city.
The government asked them to do so.
A Russian attack killed dozens of fugitives, including many children.
Estonia's help for Ukraine: The 222 million euro miracle:
Many countries are helping with weapons in the Ukraine war, but Estonia in particular has been making the headlines for days.
The small country delivers more than almost anyone - and shows the Germans what is possible with determination.
Reconstruction of the atrocities: The Bucha beacon:
Russian soldiers shot hundreds of civilians in the small town of Bucha.
Survivors tell of unbelievable scenes.
The SPIEGEL cover story.
Putinista versus Macron
The first round of the French presidential election will take place on Sunday and it can be assumed that the right-wing extremist Marine Le Pen from the Rassemblement National (RN) will be included in the runoff alongside incumbent Emmanuel Macron.
Unlike last time, when Macron was well ahead of Le Pen in the polls, the Putin admirer is just a few points behind Macron this time.
Le Pen in the Élysée Palace, "that would not only be a turning point for France, but for all of Europe," writes my colleague Leo Klimm.
In fact, the European project would no longer be threatened only from the outside, but from its very core.
Because without France, the EU is nothing.
For Putin it would be a triumph, a hostile takeover without tanks and missiles.
The election victory of the Hungarian and mini-Putin Viktor Orbán last weekend should have caused joy in the Kremlin.
In recent years, in his fight against the democracies of the West, Putin has deliberately sought contact with right-wing parties throughout Europe
: in Austria with the FPÖ, in Italy with the Lega Nord, in Germany with the AfD and in France with the RN, formerly the front called national.
One of the decisive questions on the French election Sundays will be how France, which has been neglected in recent decades but is not negligible in public opinion, will vote, writes Leo.
»This France of those who have been left behind, which spoke out loud only once in the legislature that was about to expire, when people dressed in yellow safety vests occupied the roundabouts in the winter of 2018/19 to vent their anger at President Emmanuel Macron. « The colleague got to the bottom of the matter, read his report from north-eastern France here.
SPIEGEL Daily podcast on the elections in France: Why right-wing populist Marine Le Pen could become president
Rebellion of the Deposed: Why the French are so unhappy
Loser/Winner of the Day...
… is
Karl Lauterbach
.
After the bankruptcy with the vaccination requirement and the confusion about the corona isolation requirement, the health minister can party today.
Or should we put it this way: Lauterbach is the star guest at the SPD's "Health Festival" in Mülheim an der Ruhr.
The announcement says: "In addition to the numerous challenges, we also want to 'celebrate' our health together with Karl." At the "interactive health festival", interesting facts "about nutrition, exercise, hygiene and mental health" are presented.
Ah, that sounds good.
However, protests by opponents of vaccination have been announced.
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
"Concrete dust covered us like flour"
On March 16, a bomb hit the theater in Mariupol, where hundreds of people, including women and children, had taken refuge from Russian troops.
Dozens of people perished.
survivors report.
How Russian is the German oil and gas industry?
At the last second, the federal government took control of the German subsidiary of Gazprom - and prevented chaos on the gas market.
Now Berlin fears that Putin will allow the energy crisis to escalate completely.
»Nurse, someone is leaking!«
Lack of staff, time pressure, neglect of patients: what employees in large clinics report about their working lives is hard to bear.
These are her logs from delivery rooms, pediatric wards, and emergency rooms.
23,000 vacancies for which no one can be found:
the shortage of staff in hospitals, which has been increasing for years, is endangering the life and limb of patients.
Now nurses are defending themselves in an organized manner.
Her Most Powerful Weapon: Logs of Her Everyday Work.
The underestimated risk of heart attack after a corona infection:
Anyone who falls ill with Covid-19 still has an increased risk of heart attacks and other serious cardiovascular diseases months after the infection - even with mild corona courses.
Does the vaccination help?
The Nazi past of a constitutional judge:
Wiltraut Rupp-von Brünneck, judge at the Federal Constitutional Court, was considered a shining light in German legal history.
But now a historian has uncovered dark chapters in her life.
The latest news from the night
Thousands of additional Russian soldiers gathered near Kharkiv
: As announced, the Kremlin is focusing on the Eastern Front: The Kremlin troops have been strengthened around Kharkiv, reports the US Department of Defense.
The number of tactical battalions has increased from 30 to 40 now.
Lambrecht believes that arms deliveries from Bundeswehr stocks are hardly possible:
According to the defense minister, future arms deliveries to the Ukraine must increasingly be made directly via the armaments industry.
Otherwise, the Bundeswehr's ability to defend itself could be impaired.
Zelenskyj calls for a "strong worldwide response" to the attack in Kramatorsk:
The bombing of refugees at the Kramatorsk train station caused horror around the world.
The Ukrainian President is now calling on the West for a complete embargo on Russian oil and natural gas.
I wish you a good start into the day.
Yours Sebastian Fischer
