the man who abolished the KGB agent Vladimir Putin, but enabled him again as agent leader ten years later, is dead: Mikhail Gorbachev. In the 1980s in the Soviet Union, he ensured “glasnost” and “perestroika”, transparency and transformation, in short, for those “winds of change” that grew into hurricanes and devastated the communist empire. For the Germans, however, the course of the former General Secretary of the CPSU and the former President brought the gift of unity.
The later Nobel Peace Prize winner Gorbachev had actually torn down the wall, as US President Ronald Reagan had asked him to do, the Cold War ended, but not history. She returns because Putin sees himself as anti-Gorbachev. After his resignation in 1991, the great freedom-loving Glasnost politician despaired of the kleptocracy of Boris Yeltsin and the newly emerging oligarchs and wrote pamphlets: “Never again war!” On Tuesday, the turning point of Mikhail Gorbachev died in Moscow at the age of 91.
We see again the images of the “Miracle of the Caucasus”, the German cardigan Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the senior diplomat Hans-Dietrich Genscher and in the middle the laughing “Gorbi”, who knew what the revanchist Putin does not know: “Who is late , life punishes him.”
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With sanctions against Russia, the EU was early on after the start of the Ukraine war. In the balance sheet of the Russian state-owned company Gazprom, however, this is not expressed as a malus. According to its own statements, the company made record profits of the equivalent of 41.6 billion euros in the first half of the year, despite the Western war sanctions. Now Gazprom wants to convince investors again. In 2021, thanks to the sharp rise in oil and gas prices, the group had a record profit of 2.09 trillion rubles (around 27.5 billion euros).
Gazprom has restricted or even stopped gas deliveries to several EU countries, including Germany, following sanctions. From Wednesday onwards, natural gas will no longer flow through the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline. Gazprom gives technical reasons as justification. The federal government has described this as a pretext for a politically motivated decision.
In a humorous way, one speaks of inflation when wallets are getting heavier and shopping bags are getting emptier. Economically, inflation reigns when everyone believes inflation will occur. According to a survey by the Ifo Institute, every second German company is currently planning to compensate for the burden of expensive energy through higher prices – which could call unions into action.
- Energy is clearly the strongest cost driver, in August the Germans had to pay 35.6 percent more for it. This is due to the Ukraine war and the new scarcity of oil, gas and coal, but also to the green transition in the economy.
- Foodstuffs have also risen sharply with a recent plus of 16.6 percent. The producer prices for butter climbed by a whopping 75.2 percent (consumer prices, on the other hand, “only” by 47.9 percent).
- Goods increased in price by a total of 14.7 percent, while services only rose by 2.2 percent.
In August, for example, inflation in Germany was 7.9 percent, shortly before dampening measures such as the tank discount or the nine-euro ticket expired at the end of the month. Conclusion: We will certainly not get rid of this inflation as quickly as an annoying summer flu or an obtrusive distribution of brochures.
Yesterday I had an inspiring jury meeting in Düsseldorf for the start-up competition “University Innovation Challenge”. You only had to get there first, which had consequences in the case of a train journey. In my case, the communication system between the transport service provider and the train driver was interrupted and could not be restarted. The eager conductor used the waiting time of 25 minutes to check the ticket again, in the end there had been a 65-minute delay since departure from Munich.
Such stories are the everyday life of Deutsche Bahn boss Richard Lutz. In the Handelsblatt interview, he admits what everyone sees and feels: “The quality and reliability of the railway is currently unacceptable.” Everything will be better next year, as can be seen from the dialogue, except for the ticket prices – they will continue to rise. The railways will have to pay more than two billion euros more for electricity in 2023.
And then there is Munich 72, legendary Olympic Games, which still stir up bad memories due to an assassination attempt by the Palestinian terrorist organization “Black September” on the Israeli team. The relatives of the eleven fatalities felt ignored and pushed aside. According to information from the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, it is now becoming apparent that Germany will pay a total of 28 million euros in compensation to the relatives for the murders 50 years ago: 20 million come from the federal government, five from the state of Bavaria, three from the city of Munich. A good five million were initially offered.
The amicable solution is important to everyone, the official memorial service at the Fürstenfeldbruck air base should also be attended by the Israeli relatives. And from Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, who wanted to refrain from appearing together with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier as long as an agreement with the relatives has not been found. Adequate financial compensation would be a signal that the Federal Republic is taking responsibility for this failure for the first time in 50 years, insists Ankie Spitzer, spokeswoman for the bereaved and widow of the murdered fencing coach André Spitzer.
As Wolf Biermann once said: “Only those who change remain true to themselves.” I wish you a day with the highest loyalty values.
It greets you cordially
Her
Hans Jürgen Jakobs
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