Today the question is how long Olaf Scholz's decision to deliver the Leopard 2 will last.
We also deal with the Ukrainian President Zelenskyj, who wants to fight corruption - and with the Turkish President Erdoğan, who has rejected Sweden's NATO membership.
The West is waiting for Scholz' tank decision
Perhaps the most German part of the debate over the past few days over whether Olaf Scholz is ready to authorize the
export of German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine
has revolved around the proper completion of an application.
Well, alright, people kept saying from Berlin: No decision had yet been made on how to stand on the demand from states like Poland to hand over their leopards to Ukraine - but
the Poles hadn't even submitted an application yet.
(The fact that the government in Warsaw has been loudly and publicly demanding approval of the tank exports for days apparently didn't matter, because no form had yet been received.)
That was particularly nice to hear from government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on Monday.
His words: »I would like to put it this way: If such an application were made in Germany, which is not the case at the moment, then there are well-established procedures in which such a request is answered.
And we all stick to that.«
Bureaucratic procedures as a simulation of politics
in such a central issue - that's difficult to convey, even in Germany.
A little harder abroad.
In the meantime, Poland has made the famous application.
But did he fill out the tank form correctly?
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had already said in Paris the day before: "If we were asked, we wouldn't stand in the way." Given the absurdity of the German traffic light government, this statement was apparently not coordinated with the Chancellery - which was then repeated accordingly (see above ) referred to the non-existence of an application.
Now Berlin has to deal with the request according to the "established procedure".
Based on the statements made by traffic light politicians so far, it is hard to imagine that the answer will ultimately be "no" - but
the absurdity of the procedure makes the federal government appear in a way that differs significantly from its self-image:
On Monday, SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil gave another speech in Berlin, in which he spoke of the need for Germany, because of its size, to assume a leadership role for a strong Europe, for peace and freedom.
But apparently this leadership role can only be accessed if the relevant applications have been duly completed by the partners beforehand.
Dispute over main battle tanks: the chancellor's calculations
You can find more news and background information on the war in Ukraine here:
The latest developments:
According to Kiev, two million compatriots have been deported to Russia so far.
Apparently a school is destroyed every other day in Ukraine.
Olaf Scholz gets support from Luxembourg.
The overview.
Former FBI agent is said to have worked for Russian oligarchs:
The billionaire Oleg Deripaska is subject to US sanctions.
Nevertheless, two Americans are said to have worked for him and received covert payments.
Now they have been arrested.
"The world will not be safer if we exclude Russia":
In the fight against cybercrime, authorities are increasingly falling behind, says German Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock.
Right now it is important to continue to cooperate with Moscow.
The Bundeswehr was responsible for the Puma total failure - not the industry:
13 minor, 21 medium and one serious damage: An internal report analyzes what put the Puma armored personnel carriers out of action during a shooting exercise.
The result is unflattering for the troops.
Why doesn't Scholz try to popularize the right thing?
Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit complained that there was now a discussion "where one has the feeling that Ukraine, armed with spears and slingshots, has to defend itself against Russian aggression".
That sounded a bit offended.
A popular argument from the SPD to defend Scholz's hesitation these days is
that the chancellor's deliberate course is popular with the population.
On the one hand, that's not entirely wrong, because the country is actually divided, and although there is a majority for the supply of main battle tanks, it's also a narrow majority.
However, approval for this has grown in recent weeks.
And if you really want to listen to polls, there is also a completely new one in which
only a quarter of those surveyed consider Olaf Scholz to be a strong leader.
The truth is that of course a government has to pay attention to the mood of the population.
However, it is also within the power of a government to convince the population of a policy that they believe to be right.
Since Olaf Scholz hardly explains what he thinks is right and why and hardly communicates with the Germans, there is little persuasion.
»It cannot be the job of a politician to sound out public opinion and then do what is popular.
It's the politician's job to do the right thing and make it popular.« That's what Federal President Walter Scheel once said.
Scholz did that exactly once: when he proclaimed and declared the turning point almost a year ago - and received great approval for it.
Since then, Scholz has mainly influenced public opinion by the fact that he and those around him warned a lot about an escalation, albeit mostly rather nebulously.
Since then, politics has hardly been explained, and certainly no attempt has been made to popularize the Chancellor's convictions.
Why not?
FDP politician Strack-Zimmermann: The woman who is dangerous to Olaf Scholz
Zelenskyj wants to fight corruption
A popular criticism in Germany is that
Ukraine is a corrupt state with fragile institutions
.
That is correct.
But it ignores the fact that Russia is an infinitely more corrupt state without any democratic institutions (which, strangely enough, is rarely said about it).
The difference is particularly evident these days: After the Ukrainian media published research on corruption in the defense and infrastructure ministries, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the journalists - and announced that he would take decisive action against attempts at enrichment.
Specifically, it is about the fact that the Ministry of Defense apparently bought food for the soldiers at inflated prices.
In addition, a deputy minister is said to have accepted bribes when buying generators.
Zelenskyj's reaction corresponds to the expectations of the Ukrainian population of their state: These have increased due to the Russian war of aggression.
Many people also want to fight corruption on their way to the West.
And while in Russia a small circle rules unchallenged, which also shamelessly enriches itself,
there is an active civil society in Ukraine that holds its powerful to account
- and at least achieves certain successes.
"The state will take the necessary steps": Zelenskyj announces tough action against corruption in his cabinet
Erdoğan rejects Sweden's entry into NATO
In the seemingly endless saga of
Turkey's blockade of Sweden and Finland joining NATO
, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a commitment on Monday: Sweden cannot count on Turkey's support for membership.
"If you don't show respect to the Turkish Republic or the religious beliefs of the Muslims, then you can't get any support from us in the matter of NATO,"
he said.
A well-known right-wing extremist had previously burned a Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm as a deliberate provocation.
Erdoğan had previously accused Sweden of harboring terrorists from the Kurdish PKK militia and had made their extradition a condition of joining NATO.
But now it looks as if the situation will not be resolved before the Turkish elections in May.
And domestically, the conservative Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is coming under increasing pressure from the NATO issue.
His government depends on the far-right Sweden Democrats.
Kristersson had made several attempts to win Erdoğan's approval - now he has to reassure his people that he stands up for freedom of expression and will not allow himself to be pressured by Turkey.
Right-wing extremist action in Sweden: a Koran burns, Erdoğan rumbles, and NATO fears
Here is the current quiz of the day
The starting question today: How much did German consumer prices rise on average in the 2022 calendar year?
loser of the day...
...is the CDU
because it still has the conspiracy ideologue
Hans-Georg Maaßen
in its ranks .
And he draws attention to himself
with increasingly right-wing extremist statements
.
The former CDU Bundestag candidate spoke yesterday in an Internet medium of a "red-green racial doctrine, according to which whites are regarded as an inferior race and that Arab and African men must therefore be brought into the country".
The statement came just a few days after he had tweeted that the thrust of the “driving forces in the political and media space” was “eliminatory racism against whites”:
He thus twisted the established term of “eliminatory anti-Semitism”
so that the alleged “racism against Weissen«, which Maassen claims
was on a par with the Holocaust.
That's why the anti-Semitism commissioner of the federal government criticized him, and his publishing house CH Beck finally parted ways with him (after he had stood by him for a long time).
For a long time it has seemed spooky
that a man led the German secret service for years, and with his inflammatory statements he increasingly appears in conflict with the constitution himself.
And who now praises video bloggers on Twitter who spread conspiracy myths about "chemtrails" and the "Great Reset".
It is incomprehensible that he can still be a member of the CDU with this attitude.
Ex-Head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution: Verlag CH Beck and Hans-Georg Maassen end their collaboration
The latest news from the night
Biden is said to have offered investigators a "proactive" search of his house:
investigators last combed Joe Biden's private house for 13 hours - and found other secret documents.
The White House is now emphasizing that the US President's attorneys voluntarily granted the Justice Department access.
Several dead in renewed gun attacks in California:
Just a few days ago, an attacker killed eleven people near Los Angeles.
Now there are reports of another attack in California.
A man is said to have shot and killed seven people at two crime scenes near San Francisco.
Serbian President hints at acceptance of Kosovo settlement plan:
The EU is pressuring Serbia to agree to a Franco-German plan to resolve the conflict with Kosovo.
President Aleksandar Vučić has now announced that he is ready "for the path of compromise".
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
Stigmatized mothers, discredited fathers:
Do German family courts not adequately protect children from separated families from violent fathers?
An evaluation that suggests this is the concern of politicians.
But the "hammer study" has shortcomings.
Sanna Marin's heartfelt project is met with resistance from Finland's right-wingers:
it is a personal matter for Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin – she wants to change the country's restrictive trans law.
The right-wing populists oppose it - and are not alone shortly before the election.
“Climate-damaging travel ultimately catches up with everyone”:
Germans travel with little environmental awareness – despite record heat and Fridays for Future.
The tourism researcher Wolfgang Günther interviewed German citizens and says why holidays have to be more expensive.
My bonus is being reduced - what can I do?
Our reader's employer is going out of business, but she only received part of her bonus due to illness.
Is that legal?
Just lift one:
Exoskeletons should prevent back injuries and make the craft attractive for young people again.
It all sounds good, but our author wanted one thing above all: try out such a power suit for yourself.
I wish you a good start into the day.
Yours sincerely, Mathieu von Rohr, head of the SPIEGEL international department
