In the shadow of Navalny's death
Yesterday, Julija Navalnaya made a touching appearance in front of participants at the Munich Security Conference, shortly after she learned of the death of her husband Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison camp (read the obituary here). Less than 24 hours later, Volodymyr Zelenskyj will speak at the same place, right after Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The fate of the Kremlin critic Navalny is likely to make the appearance even more serious, as it shows what is threatening: If Russia conquers Ukraine, a regime will rule there that mercilessly persecutes, imprisons and ultimately kills its opponents.
The Ukrainian president's appearance is intended to persuade the assembled heads of state and government to provide further support with weapons and ammunition. He came personally for this - last year he was still connected. That shows the urgency. The situation at the front is already difficult, the soldiers are on the defensive.
Avdiivka in Donbass is a symbol of the endless and grueling war: a brutal trench warfare was already raging there in the spring and summer of last year. In mid-October, Russian troops began an offensive to conquer the small town. Now the Ukrainian army has withdrawn from the city. The new commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky explained that he wanted to prevent encirclement. He obviously doesn't want to give up the city: the army will return, says Syrsky. For Vladimir Putin, the Ukrainian withdrawal is a political success before the presidential election in mid-March. For Ukraine it is a psychological and strategic defeat.
You can read more background information here: Ukrainian army withdraws from Avdiivka
Protest republic of Germany
This weekend is all about protests. There are not only the numerous rallies on the occasion of the Munich Security Conference. Bundesliga games will probably have to be interrupted again if tennis balls or chocolate balls fly in protest against investors joining the German Football League. And outside the stadiums the tractors are on the move again. Among other things, craftsmen, freight forwarders and farmers want to paralyze Düsseldorf for 24 hours with 1,700 tractors and other vehicles, under the cryptic motto “DEMO 2.0 – Together for a secure future”.
So far, the reactions to roaring ten-ton machines in German city centers have been surprisingly understanding, but the demolition of the Green Party's political Ash Wednesday by a few rabid angry farmers has changed that. The police union has just called for a ban on tractors during demonstrations. And the question arises: Is a new movement of highly motivated protesters emerging who are primarily concerned with expressing a dull anger at “the system”? Will we soon want the “climate glue” back?
Of course, the great desire to demonstrate is not a bad thing. The fact that within just a few weeks many people across the country have taken to the streets against right-wing extremism and will continue to do so this weekend: That is encouraging.
You can read more about the background here: Are the farmers' protests becoming radical?
A danger for the right – or for democracy?
Does Germany need a new party to the right of the Union? The former head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hans-Georg Maaßen, thinks: absolutely. Today he wants to found the “Union of Values” party together with supporters. Originally, the founding was to be celebrated on an excursion boat on the Rhine, with a view of the former government district of Bonn. But "due to press reports triggered by indiscretions outside the 'Union of Values'," as it says on the club's account on X, formerly Twitter, the meeting is now taking place at a different location. Counter-demonstrators had announced themselves.
The “Union of Values” advertises itself on X with sayings like: “Our code of honor is called the Basic Law” or “Freedom instead of socialism.” Can it bring back voters from the AfD, which is drifting further and further into right-wing extremism, and does it fill an important democratic gap on the right of the Union?
The presumed new party leader Maaßen presents the “Union of Values” in exactly the same way. But one can have doubts about that. The former CDU member attracted attention with right-wing extremist and conspiracy theory statements. Maaßen is now being monitored: by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
You can read more background information here: For whom the “Union of Values” could be dangerous
Click here for the current daily quiz
Today's starting question: What is the name of the capital of Morocco?
Loser of the day...
...is the cargo bike. The Dutch authorities have ordered a sales stop and a recall of Babboe's cargo bikes, and sales have now also been temporarily stopped in Germany. The reason for this is frame breakage in several of the manufacturer's models, which, according to the company, are "the number 1 cargo bike in the world." Other safety risks are now likely to come to the fore: the risk of injury to pedestrians in collisions, the tendency of tricycles to tip over in curves, and the lack of protection for children, who are usually transported without helmets and seat belts.
Not an easy time for users whose vehicles have long been a victim of the very special German culture war. A “Welt” editor once called the cargo bike the “asshole of the Alnatura nobility.” Perhaps the structural defects ultimately represent an opportunity for ideological disarmament and a less cliched view of the cargo bike than what it is: a bike with a box. Environmentally friendly and practical for transporting children and shopping. No more and no less.
You can read more about the topic here: Promise, broken
The latest reports from the night
UN court rejects application against Israel's planned Rafah offensive:
From South Africa's perspective, the military offensive in Rafah announced by Israel would be a serious violation of the Genocide Convention. The country has now failed with an urgent application before a UN court.
Isaak sings for Germany at the ESC final:
“Always On The Run”: With this song, the singer Isaak won the ESC preliminary round and will therefore start for Germany at the final in Malmö. Max Mutzke came in second.
Tiger Woods gives up at the tournament in Los Angeles:
Golf legend Tiger Woods had to stop at the Masters last April due to an injury, and now he wanted to return to the PGA tournament in Los Angeles. On the second day it was over for him.
I would particularly like to recommend this story to you today:
“A battle for freedom of expression is raging at Harvard”
: Harvard University has produced eight US presidents and 50 Nobel Prize winners; it is considered one of the best educational institutions in the world. But now the institution is in the biggest crisis in its history. The dispute over how to deal with Hamas terror, the disputes over hate and anti-Semitism have sparked chaos on the campus on the US East Coast. My colleague Kerstin Kullmann got an idea of the situation on site. “A visit to Harvard these days is like a trip to a ghostly land,” she writes. »You experience an institution that is unable to talk openly about its own problems. You experience a climate of fear.«
I wish you a good start to the day.
Your Juliane von Mittelstaedt, deputy head of the international department