1. Who are the “unassimilated citizens”?
One of the great achievements of a democracy is that you can freely express your opinion as long as it does not conflict with the Basic Law. You can form parties and take part in elections. Unlike in Russia, you don't have to submit 100,000 signatures to run against the incumbent, as Russian opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin did today in Moscow (read more here).
In Germany, too, two colorful figures are preparing to shake up politics - both with considerably less risk than Nadezhdin. Sahra Wagenknecht wants to run with her new alliance in the state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg in the fall, as does the former head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hans-Georg Maaßen. He wants to separate the “Values Union” association from the CDU and expand it into his own party. My colleague Ann-Katrin Müller and my colleague Marc Röhlig took a closer look at the personnel with whom Maaßen wants to conquer the political arena. Just this much: There is not much that unites the fellow campaigners, apart from the strict rejection of much of what makes up our social foundation.
Individual members of the “Union of Values” also took part in the meeting of right-wing radicals in a Potsdam villa on November 25th, which was revealed by Correctiv. The former head of the right-wing extremist “Identitarian Movement” in Austria, Martin Sellner, also spoke about “remigration” at the meeting. When right-wing extremists use the term, they usually mean that large numbers of people of foreign origin should leave the country - even under duress. According to Correctiv, Sellner named three target groups: asylum seekers, immigrants with the right to remain and “unassimilated citizens.”
Of course, you could also see it the other way around: Maaßen and his troops may simply not be assimilated citizens if their conservatism goes so far that they question existing law. After all, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has targeted his ex-boss Maaßen (read more here).
But in a constitutional state, of course, they don't have to fear deportation; on the contrary, they can (still) run in elections without any problems - see above. Whether Maaßen will achieve his goal of Thuringia having a “bourgeois prime minister” – i.e. him – again is a completely different question. In the 2021 federal election, he even missed entering parliament - at the time he was still in the CDU.
Read more here: These are the key players in Hans-Georg Maaßen’s new “Values Union” party
2. Zelensky's defeats on a large and small scale
The course of the war in Ukraine can be viewed from two perspectives: on the one hand, the army has been holding out against the Russian aggressors for almost two years; Vladimir Putin's assumption that he would conquer the country in a surprise move within a few days turned out to be a grotesque misjudgment.
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Army chief Valeriy Saluschny (archive recording): "I think that's a huge mistake"
Photo: dpa
On the other hand, one can also come to the conclusion that the Ukrainian army is acting in a hopeless position. Territories are being recaptured only with great difficulty, the number of casualties among the soldiers is in the tens of thousands, and victory seems hopeless. The war is stagnating.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has apparently decided on the latter reading of things - even if he would of course never say so openly. But his actions speak volumes. Because Zelenskyj blames not only the West but also his own military for the standstill - above all army chief Valeriy Saluschny. Zelenskyj lacks successes on the front last year.
Saluschny is apparently supposed to be fired, but a first attempt failed, as my colleague Christian Esch, our correspondent in Kiev, reports. Zelensky is apparently not only suspicious of his commander-in-chief's high popularity ratings, but also his alleged political ambitions.
But Saluschny doesn't want to resign. According to Christian, the army chief and president are now weakened and the Ukrainian media is full of speculation. “As if we didn’t have a war to fight,” sighs a high-ranking military officer.
Read the whole story here: A gentle eviction that failed resoundingly
3. Verbal class wedges in the Bundestag
Given the situation this morning, my colleague Philipp Wittrock hoped this morning that the opposition leader Friedrich Merz would attack the Chancellor as harshly as possible in the general debate in the Bundestag. Only then, according to Philipp, can you provoke something like emotional emotion from Olaf Scholz.
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Chancellor Olaf Scholz, CDU leader Friedrich Merz: Not as usual
Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
The hope has been fulfilled, that much can be said.
The Union “completely disagrees” with the traffic light government on all essential issues of foreign and security policy, economic and financial policy, labor market policy, domestic and legal policy and, last but not least, asylum and immigration policy, “and not in detail "But in principle," Merz slammed the Chancellor in the Bundestag. “Please spare yourself and us your calls for cooperation in the future,” said Merz. The government coalition is using its parliamentary majority “callously and ruthlessly.”
Leaving aside the question of what else it should make use of if not its majority, the budget deliberations were a show of vanity. Scholz countered that Merz deals against the federal government every day, "but when you are criticized, then you are a mimosa." Terms like hare-footed and coward were also used.
And then Scholz listed what a brilliant job he thinks this government is doing:
Germany has the highest employment level ever recorded,
The government has taken “decisive steps” in the fight against the shortage of skilled workers and in dealing with migration,
the minimum wage has been increased,
the working middle class has been given tax relief,
In the case of “irregular migration,” “very far-reaching decisions were made.”
There was once a general debate where the then opposition leader said that in the government coalition they wouldn't give each other flowers, but would rather go out for a drink together. "I can understand that, because this adulation is unbearable when sober." That was 2010, and the opposition leader was Guido Westerwelle. Today his FDP itself was heavily praised - as a government party.
Read more here: Scholz and Merz attack AfD
What else is important today?
Payment cards for refugees are to be introduced nationwide:
immigrants to Germany will receive less cash in the future. The introduction of a payment card has now been decided for all federal states. However, two want to go a different route.
Number of unemployed in Germany rises in January:
The Federal Agency speaks of seasonal data, but the development shows a trend: The number of unemployed rose to more than 2.8 million in January. The unemployment rate was 6.1 percent.
Bundestag President Bas declares “Never again” to be the task of the entire society: glorification of Hamas, right-wing extremist deportation fantasies, attacks on Jews: commemorating the Shoah is more important than ever. In the Bundestag, Parliament President Bas called for more courage against hatred.
The ministry cannot yet assess the impact of the draft law:
More money for those entitled to BaföG, more funding overall – these were the goals the Ministry of Education had set out as reform goals. Now it's clear: There's no more money. And perhaps not a significantly higher recipient rate.
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL+
"The fact that seriously ill children are competing for a hospital bed is crazy":
girls and boys don't get a hospital bed, there is a lack of nursing staff, there is a lack of medical equipment - senior doctor Ellen Heimberg talks about her work in the children's intensive care unit at the university hospital in Tübingen.
"Society would punish sexual assaults differently than the judiciary":
Leipzig criminal law professor Elisa Hoven makes a harsh judgment on German courts: Sexual offenses are punished too leniently, and perpetrators can often hope for leniency. She calls for reforms.
How do you remain human in times of war?
In wars we tend to identify entirely with one side. We must not lose sight of the suffering of all the victims.
The wow effect is the simplest thing
: our author has already seen many computer glasses collecting dust. Apple's Vision Pro will have to fight hard for its place in everyday life, he says. Because: The new product encounters well-known problems.
Which is less important today
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Lady Gaga
Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP
License to whistle
: TikTok users may soon have to do without music from the record label Universal if they want to provide acoustic accompaniment to their videos. Artists like
Taylor Swift,
34, or
Lady Gaga,
37,
could disappear from the video app TikTok from Thursday because the company does not want to extend the license with the Chinese social media platform. TikTok creates music on a large scale using artificial intelligence. In this way, the service is actually driving forward “the replacement of artists with AI”.
Mini concave mirror
You can find the entire concave mirror here.
Cartoon of the day
And tonight?
If you could do the same as my colleague Sebastian Maas and recreate two of his recipes from the “Cooking without coal” series, er, cooking would be the wrong term here. Rather try it out. Based on its title alone, it deserves its suggestion to be prepared by you. “Make a virtue out of bread”! It's about old bread and how you can use it into something tasty without having to throw it away. Sebastian recommends either French toast or bread salad. Both a delicacy. Bon appetit.
A lovely evening.
Heartfelt
Yours, Janko Tietz, Head of Germany/Panorama Department