The long wait for the Churchill moment

Fear or courage – what exactly does Sandra Maischberger want to arouse in her audience on ARD?

In the course of the program, the conversations in the ARD discussion round repeatedly swing back and forth between the two poles of fear and courage. It starts with fear. Thomas Roth, who worked as a correspondent in Moscow for ten years, is stunned by the war in Ukraine: “It’s just terrible. It makes your heart bleed.” And when the presenter asked how dangerous Vladimir Putin was, the answer came alarmingly quickly: “Very. I trust him with everything. He goes even further.” Later he would add: “Putin goes as far as he is allowed to. Ultimately, he belongs before the International Criminal Court.”

Words of encouragement are difficult for those discussing in the ARD round with Sandra Maischberger. As well as. Mariam Lau (“Die ZEIT”) states that Putin lied to him three weeks ago. Nevertheless, she says: “You always have to keep trying to talk.” Markus Feldenkirchen (“Der Spiegel”) sees “the only glimmer of hope” in the fact that the foreign ministers from Russia and Ukraine meet today under Turkish mediation, as does Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has promised initial concessions.

“Maischberger. Die Woche” (ARD): “The situation is escalating itself,” says German-Ukrainian author Katja Petrowskaja

However, it all seems like dry theory when the German-Ukrainian author Katja Petrowskaja, whose family is directly affected by the armed conflict, has her say. Her 86-year-old mother left Kyiv just a few hours ago. She wanted to stay and show her stance on the spot. “This war is completely absurd, people don’t understand why they should leave at all,” says Katja Petrovskaya. Nobody uses the word “flee” in Kyiv. The author urgently pleads with the West to help Ukraine more, it is essential that a no-fly zone be set up.

Nevertheless, the military expert Carlo Masala, whom Sandra Maischberger invited to the three-way discussion with Katja Petrovskaya on the ARD round, remains sober. Setting up such zones is not as easy as it sounds. They would effectively mean that airfields and air defense systems would first have to be bombed in order to gain sovereignty over the airspace at all. “This means war against Russia”. Carlo Masala can reassure him that Putin is still a long way from using nuclear weapons. “That will only happen if Putin is faced with a catastrophic defeat.” The West is supplying weapons, without which Ukraine might now look even worse. “But there is a limit where there could be an escalation between Russia and NATO.” Katja Petrovskaya cannot accept this argument: “We are already in a war spiral, the situation is escalating itself,” she says.

“Maischberger. Die Woche” (ARD): Waiting for the Churchill moment

Awaken hopes, give courage, is that still possible in view of these gloomy prospects? Sandra Maischberger has the ARD discussion trio analyzed again from the beginning. Thomas Roth and Mariam Lau largely agree: Olaf Scholz’s historic about-face in the face of German arms deliveries was correct. “Putin must face resistance,” says Thomas Roth, and Mariam Lau adds: “We must discard the mantra that there is no military solution.” Markus Feldenkirchen sees it a little differently, he rather puts hope in the prospect that the economic sanctions will take effect. Thomas Roth can also do something with it, at least to a limited extent: “Our only chance is if the oligarchs’ building around Putin cracks, if they see their yachts floating away” – and then put the appropriate pressure on Putin. “We now need a Churchill moment from Olaf Scholz,” says Mariam Lau.

“We are stronger than our fear tells us,” says Joachim Gauck at Maischberger

“I can already hear Mr. Gauck laughing in the background,” says Sandra Maischberger in view of the comparison between Scholz and Churchill. The former Federal President Joachim Gauck is actually her last trump card, which could bring a little serenity to the gloomy prospects on this ARD evening. A little courage maybe too? In fact, Joachim Gauck speaks in a considered, level-headed manner and puts all his life experience from the post-war and GDR era into his words. When Sandra Maischberger asked how worried he was that there might be a nuclear war or a wildfire, Gauck replies with amazing calm: “The German tendency to fear quickly is clearly noticeable.” Putin, whom he calls the “mad dictator in Moscow”. , is difficult to calculate, but he is not yet Hitler at the end of the Second World War. “He also wants to go down in Russian history as a glorious personality,” says Gauck.

Depending on your point of view, Joachim Gauck’s perspectives on what might now lie ahead are either very uplifting or very unsettling. “Dear young people, you can’t know what you’ll endure later, we are stronger than our fear tells us,” was Gauck’s plea to everyone who didn’t experience the post-war period. We could also freeze for a while and endure “a general dent in our affluent life” for the sake of freedom. Sandra Maischberger’s comment: “The priest speaks in you” seems out of place. But what else is there to say and discuss in the face of a situation that is still depressing? “Difficult situation, difficult days” is the helpless final statement of the ARD presenter. (Teresa Schomburg)