Today it's about Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose SPD suffered an electoral defeat in North Rhine-Westphalia - and whose Ukraine policy is causing distrust in Europe.
We also deal with the NATO accession of Finland and Sweden as well as with the fundamentally ailing Deutsche Bahn.
Olaf Scholz's chancellorship needs a reboot
Of course, the historically worst result of the SPD in North Rhine-Westphalia since the Second World War is also
the defeat of Chancellor Olaf Scholz
.
Not least because the head of government had himself pictured on posters together with the SPD's top candidate Thomas Kutschaty and held election campaign events.
But the chancellor didn't move.
The SPD lost 4.5 percent and the election.
What had happened a week earlier in Schleswig-Holstein was repeated in NRW: the voters only rewarded the Greens from the traffic light parties, massively even.
The SPD and FDP, on the other hand, have punished them.
The CDU with
Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst
is growing significantly, it is the winner in NRW.
But now the Greens are holding the cards.
Black and green is the most likely option
, although not the only one.
One conclusion comes to mind when you look at these SPD election results on the one hand and the poll numbers for the chancellor on the other:
Olaf Scholz has not yet convinced a majority of Germans.
There is his style of government, which consists of speaking but rarely speaking clearly.
Not making clear decisions, but keeping all options open, and always demonstrating a self-confidence that can border on arrogance.
On the other hand, there is the vagueness
of the content
: this was a state election.
Nevertheless, one has to state that in NRW those parties won that were the clearest in their course in relation to Ukraine - above all the Greens, who were able to benefit from their nationally popular figureheads Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck.
The Greens are obviously not harmed at all by their new position on weapons and they can communicate their politics in an understandable and empathetic manner.
What follows?
Olaf Scholz's chancellorship needs a reboot a good five months after he took office.
But can and does the man really want to change course, who has always remained true to himself in style since his time as Hamburg mayor?
For Olaf Scholz and the SPD, the result in North Rhine-Westphalia is a moderate catastrophe.
Why?
Three reasons.
Why is Olaf Scholz refusing to take the lead in Europe?
One should certainly not exaggerate the political importance of the
European Song Contest
as a European public - and yet: the unanimity with which audiences across Europe on Saturday chose the Ukrainian song "Stefania" by the "Kalush Orchestra" as the winner with a record number of votes was
one Demonstration of pan-European solidarity with a country unprovokedly the target of a murderous Russian war of aggression
.
And what a sign if the event takes place in the open air next year in Kyiv!
The fact that Germany received zero points and ended up in last place certainly cannot be read primarily in political terms.
Because the song was clearly bad and could not be conveyed in terms of taste in the rest of Europe.
And yet the result – Ukraine first, Germany last – can also be understood symbolically: Since the beginning of the
war, Germany's image has suffered great damage in large parts of Europe
, especially in the new EU states in Eastern and Central Europe.
This is due to Olaf Scholz's reluctance to support Ukraine.
This balancing act
of always doing just enough so that the allies do not react openly angrily, but still not enough
: slowing down on arms deliveries and stubbornly refusing to travel to Kiev.
Ironically, the nation that has been refusing to play a leading role in Europe in this crisis has benefited most from cheap Russian energy supplies
and whose political establishment has had the closest ties to Moscow.
Instead, the chancellor keeps giving the impression that they are just waiting for relations with Russia to be normalized again at some point.
You can find more news and background information on the war in Ukraine here:
Incendiary bombs on steel works, Ukrainian troops on the border with Russia - that happened at night:
the fighting in the port city of Mariupol continues.
Kyiv reports a symbolic advance in the counter-offensive in the east.
And sanctions are costing Belarus billions.
The overview.
'It's good that my life is almost over.
I didn't see too many good things«:
Anton Rudnev survived the terror of the Nazis.
Now the 96-year-old is holding out in the destroyed Kharkiv.
Other Holocaust survivors are still in the city - or are being evacuated to Germany.
Dad goes to war:
tens of thousands of foreigners are fighting in Ukraine.
Olli, a German family man, wanted to be one of them.
Twice he tried it, twice he was sent back.
Now he wants to go to war a third time.
Why?
Putin's provocateur:
NATO ambassador, deputy prime minister, head of Russian space travel: Dmitry Rogozin has had many jobs.
And he offends almost everywhere, most recently he quarreled with Elon Musk.
What drives the man?
Confidence in Germany falls to zero
At a conference over the weekend, Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks summed up all the frustration with the Germans:
The Baltic region was extremely pro-Germany, but since the Ukraine war trust in Germany has been "close to zero."
Berlin must change its policy significantly if it doesn't want distrust to grow out of it.
In the Federal Chancellery, one does not seem to hear these warning signs - one gets the impression that they are doing in Berlin what they have always done there: look spellbound at Russia, sometimes anxiously, sometimes hopefully, and are already thinking about future negotiations.
While the Allies in Eastern and Central Europe are concentrating on strengthening Ukraine so that it can push back Russian troops and defend itself against them in the future, Olaf Scholz has never said clearly that this is his goal.
His most recent statement after a phone call with Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron on Friday was a call for an "immediate ceasefire."
But an immediate ceasefire without a complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory would be a victory for Russia.
Can you really rely on Berlin?
Podcast: Eight billion - The war and the Baltic States: Nowhere is Russia closer to the EU than here
NATO's northern expansion
Vladimir Putin's war of aggression was a gross miscalculation
, militarily and politically.
This is not only evident in
eastern Ukraine
, where his completely exhausted troops have to constantly reduce the war targets and are now only trying to encircle a small corner of the eastern Donbass around the city of Severodonetsk.
His mistake shows up on a much larger scale at the geopolitical level:
Finland and Sweden, the hitherto neutral states, are on the verge of joining NATO
.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced their country's decision on Sunday.
Sweden's ruling Social Democrats have also backed it (with the proviso that they don't want NATO bases or nuclear weapons).
The parliaments in both countries will soon decide.
If they agree, Finland and Sweden could submit their application at the same time – and NATO would most likely agree unanimously (although Turkish President Erdoğan is still trying to win concessions to do so).
Putin has warned the two future new members of NATO against taking this step, but has long since given them the most convincing reason to join.
Anyone who shows their neighbors so clearly that they are capable of military aggression at any time should not be surprised if they want to unite and protect themselves
.
The Central and Eastern European states that joined NATO in 1998 can only feel vindicated afterwards.
In Finland and Sweden, the attack on the Ukraine was understood much more than in Germany as an attack on their own security and their own way of life.
Joining NATO is the consequence of this.
Do you remember?
Before the Russian attack, the idea of a "Finlandization of Ukraine" was floating around for a short time - instead, Finland has now become ukrainized in relation to Russia.
At the same time, it is becoming apparent that Ukraine could soon be granted EU candidate status.
Putin reliably drives his neighbors away from him.
Community of values at the limit: How much Ukraine can the EU tolerate?
Loser of the day...
...are
the customers of Deutsche Bahn
.
Last weekend was once again a demonstration that the rail system is so dilapidated that it cannot be saved in its current form - and that it would take far-reaching structural reforms and massive investments to be competitive in Europe and against air traffic .
A cable fire on Friday morning on a railway line within Hamburg led to massive chaos in national rail traffic throughout the weekend, hours of delays, train cancellations, anger and tears - for three full days.
This is difficult to understand, but would be forgivable if it were an isolated case.
But it's not: As a rail customer, you always have to expect that you won't arrive or will arrive too late.
This has been a natural part of everyday life in Germany for far too long, and it cannot stay that way if the turnaround in traffic is to succeed, if domestic flights are to be reduced.
In any case, the 9-euro ticket will not be enough.
Rail customers must continue to adjust to impairments in long-distance traffic
The latest news from the night
"Never say never":
Melania Trump never seemed to have warmed to the role of First Lady.
Now she gave her first longer interview since leaving – and talked about a possible comeback.
Mali announces withdrawal from the G5 military alliance:
There were only four left: Mali's military government no longer wants to be part of the G5 Sahel.
The reason given was that foreign powers would exploit the alliance.
Shots in the church - one dead and four seriously injured:
After the attack in Buffalo, there was also a deadly attack on a group of people on the US west coast.
In California, a perpetrator opened fire in a church.
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
How Google Street View was fatal to a mafia boss:
The convicted mafioso Gioacchino Gammino was able to hide from the police for 20 years - until he appeared on the Internet involuntarily.
A conversation with investigator Lorena Di Galante, who chased him and finally caught him.
If nobody nags:
Elon Musk wants to take over Twitter and bring Donald Trump back – and that's just one reason to unsubscribe there, because our author has been annoyed by the bullying for a long time.
But how well does the Mastodon alternative work?
»This is where we met David Hasselhoff«:
The Venice Biennale is about us, the planet, the future, the environment, gender, about everything.
Our author tried to escape from the German war debate there.
Didn't work.
I wish you a good start into the week.
Yours, Mathieu von Rohr
