The crux of the sanctions
Germany is puzzling
over how it will finance all the relief and price
controls that may come in the winter of crisis.
Example: gas price cap.
It is still not quite clear how Finance Minister Christian Lindner intends to pay him after he rejects a gas surcharge and wants to comply with the debt brake in the coming year.
Is another special fund coming?
A new solo?
The rededication of other pots?
Everything complex, everything not so simple.
Isn't there a more elegant solution?
One can fantasize.
An unbelievable number of Russians have invested their wealth in Europe in recent decades - on the stock exchange, in companies, in yachts, in real estate.
Also because it was made easy for them.
My colleagues from the investigative department have described it
impressively using the example of the billionaire and Putin friend
Alisher Usmanov .
He put his money in three posh houses on Lake Tegernsee, among other things, through companies.
The investigators now want to prosecute the oligarch under the penal code because he has not paid any taxes for years, even though Rottach-Egern had become a kind of residence for him.
So why shouldn't Europe use the many billions of Russian oligarchs to fund the aftermath of the war of aggression their friend Vladimir Putin instigated?
The answer is, you guessed it: Unfortunately, it's not that easy.
The assets of Russian oligarchs who ended up on the sanctions list are usually frozen.
Sounds more dramatic than it is.
Those sanctioned may keep and even use the assets, they just may not sell them or make a profit from them.
An oligarch can therefore continue to live in his villa, but he is not allowed to sell or rent it out.
So far, the state cannot go any further.
It would be much more painful and effective if the state could collect the money
- and thus either support its own citizens or - even better - the war victims Ukraine.
The EU Commission actually came up with this idea and announced in May that it would draw up a corresponding proposal.
Since then, the Tegernsee has been quiet.
It's all difficult from a legal point of view.
There are experts who say you can't just rob people of their money for political reasons.
There are other experts who point to a law created for Mafiosi wealth.
It has been in force in Germany for five years and allows the state to confiscate such assets as long as the suspect cannot prove that he acquired them legally.
The law does not apply to oligarchs one-to-one, but it could be an impetus to think in a similar direction.
All of this is nothing more than a thought experiment.
If only because even the best law would not help much at the moment.
Because so far the sum of the Russian money frozen in Germany is 4.8 billion euros.
A gas price cap costs a multiple of that.
It is undisputed that significantly more Russian oligarch money should be slumbering in Germany.
The only question is – where?
Investigations against Russian billionaire: German tax law catches up with oligarch Usmanow
You can find more news and background information on the war in Ukraine here:
That happened at night:
Volodymyr Selenskyj talks about his "top priority", the CDU leader about "problems" with refugees from Ukraine and Russia - and Washington about "extraordinary" consequences.
The overview.
Voting at gunpoint:
For its sham referendums in eastern Ukraine, Russia sends "electoral workers" and soldiers to people's homes, forcing refugees and prisoners of war to vote.
Ukrainians hide or don't open the door.
What residents of Cherson tell SPIEGEL.
Can the oligarchs stop Putin?
The West is targeting the Russian super-rich with sanctions and raids.
But most magnates have long since lost their influence on the Kremlin, says expert Nicolai Petrov. Only one group is still close to Putin.
Conscientious objector is said to have set himself on fire in Russia:
According to a Russian media report, a man set himself on fire to protest against being called up for military service against Ukraine.
The anger against conscription offices is apparently also increasing.
evening of duels
When the first TV duel between Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) and his challenger Bernd Althusmann
(CDU) takes place
in Lower Saxony tonight at 9 p.m. , the
starting position is a bit strange
.
Because the two opponents are still part of the same government: Althusmann sits in the cabinet as Economics Minister and Deputy Weil.
The common opponent is the opposition of the Greens, Liberals, the AfD and non-attached MPs.
I'm curious to see whether both politicians can flip the switch, or whether a certain bite inhibition can be felt.
No matter how the duel ends, one thing is certain:
the last grand coalition of Union and SPD in Germany should come to an end on October 9th.
The red-black project, which was the basis of a federal or state government for about 30 years, has had its day for the time being.
Also a kind of turning point.
Whoever is invited to the opening event of the Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl Foundation tonight can experience
a
completely different kind of duel .
The welcoming address will be spoken by CDU leader
Friedrich Merz
, the concluding remarks by his predecessor and ex-Chancellor
Angela Merkel
.
It is no secret that the two are not of the same heart and soul.
Therefore, the way they present themselves should also be very different.
Incidentally, the event is taking place 40 years after Kohl's election as chancellor.
The foundation, with its chairman Volker Kauder, has set itself the goal of using different formats to commemorate the chancellor of unity, "whereby aspects of his reign that have hitherto been underestimated are also addressed," according to the website.
What does that mean?
Ex-Chancellor Merkel on her ex-chancellorship: "Now I'm free"
How much power do the police need?
When the President of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Peter Münch, reports on cases of violent crimes against children and young people, he usually
reports record values for
child pornographic crimes .
At the last press conference in June, there was a 108 percent increase in cases.
That can mean good things: More cases are being reported, the police are investigating more diligently, their technical capabilities are constantly improving.
It can also mean bad things: the crime is spreading, it happens everywhere, in the city, in the country, in families, in organized circles, the investigators are hopelessly overwhelmed.
Today,
the interior ministers and justice ministers of the federal states
are meeting for the first time for a joint conference in Munich.
Right at the beginning it is about
combating child abuse and child pornography
.
And the question of what powers the police need to uncover even more cases.
One of the possible methods is what is known as
data retention
: telephone and internet providers should be obliged to store extensive data of all users for ten weeks so that the police can access it if necessary.
The law was on hold for five years, and the European Court of Justice recently ruled that the German project was incompatible with EU law.
However, the judges named exceptions: IP addresses may be stored for a longer period of time.
Despite the judge's verdict, the
federal government is divided
: Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) would like to save masses of IP addresses, Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) is strictly against it.
So it is not to be expected that there will be agreement on a line on this sensitive subject at today's conference.
More so with other topics that are on the agenda: combating hatred and violence on the Internet, for example, or the exclusion of enemies of the state from the civil service.
At the end, the host ministers invite you to the Oktoberfest, a place where conflicts like to escalate – or are settled in a beery manner.
However, one of them cannot be there: the Minister of the Interior announced yesterday - just like the Chancellor - that she was suffering from corona.
She will probably participate in the video discussion during the conference.
Traffic light argues after verdict on data retention: The Last Stand
SPIEGEL talk with Russia correspondent Christina Hebe and war reporter Thore Schröder
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has triggered the next level of escalation - he is mobilizing hundreds of thousands of reservists for his war of aggression against Ukraine and is repeatedly threatening to use nuclear weapons (read the SPIEGEL cover story here).
A scary scenario, also for many people in Germany.
Christina Hebe
, head of the Moscow SPIEGEL office, has been reporting from Russia since 2016, and
Thore Schröder
has been a
reporter in Ukraine
since the beginning of the war .
How do my colleagues assess the current situation?
How have you experienced the last few months, weeks and days?
And how do they actually work under the conditions of this war?
Ask the two at SPIEGEL Backstage yourself!
With this digital event format, we want to get you into conversation with our journalists and give you an insight into our work, which you can also make possible with your subscription.
Tonight at 8 p.m. via Zoom. The talk is exclusively for SPIEGEL subscribers!
You can register
here
until 7 p.m.
If you want to send us your questions in advance, you can
do so here
until 7 p.m.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Here is the current quiz of the day
The starting question today: Who was Queen Elizabeth II's predecessor on the throne of the United Kingdom?
Winner of the day...
... is the NASA probe »Dart«.
She took on an asteroid last night and rammed it.
The aim of the deliberately induced crash in space: The chunk was to be thrown off course in the "Double Asteroid Redirection Test" in the literal sense.
Scientists, including the Berlin impact researcher Kai Wünnemann, want to find out whether one of the greatest threat scenarios for humanity can be influenced or even averted - the impact of an asteroid on earth.
The precise evaluation of the $330 million collision around eleven million kilometers from Earth is still pending.
The latest news from the night
Rollercoaster ride when relegated:
Four goals in 15 minutes: Nations League relegated England turned a deficit against the DFB-Elf and could not win.
Everything about the ter Stegen parades, Harry Maguire's dropouts - and a dream goal.
CR III - Official monogram of King Charles III.
one thing is certain:
the C for Charles meanders through the legs of the R for Rex: Buckingham Palace has unveiled the king's »Cypher«, which will soon be emblazoned on all official documents and mailboxes.
Carlsen accuses Niemann of fraud for the first time:
after a move, he ended an online game against the American Hans Niemann.
Now world chess champion Magnus Carlsen said on Twitter why: because his opponent – as in the past – cheated.
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
When Greens suddenly sound like Donald Trump:
Going it alone nationally instead of solidarity with Europe – when it comes to energy policy, the Germans are their own neighbors.
The judge assessed him as "calm and orderly" - shortly afterwards he hit him with a fire basket:
schizophrenia, personality disorders or bipolar disorders can cause psychotic violent outbursts.
Now potential threats and those running amok are to be intercepted at an early stage - with a considerable effort in terms of personnel.
This intimacy terror pisses me off:
ever since people started using the phone with small loudspeakers in their auditory canals, they almost always do it too loudly and with absolutely no shame.
I don't want to hear those intimate cell phone conversations.
Am I a bad human?
From Otterskirchen to the big stage:
With a song from the Lower Bavarian children's room, Luna became a star on TikTok, hardly any other artist in Germany has recently achieved such a rapid rise.
What is the 19-year-old up to now?
I wish you a fulfilling Tuesday!
Yours, Martin Knobbe
