Frank Plasberg (ARD) discusses the Ukraine war in “Hard but fair”. It’s about Putin, refugees in Europe and the danger of a nuclear war.
Before the audience has room for questions during “Hart aber fair”, the politicians and experts in the studio can first express their assessment of the current situation in the Ukraine conflict. Marina Weisband is certain that the Ukrainians will continue to fight “even if President Zelenskyy should fall.” Omid Nouripour is convinced that Vladimir Putin’s system is based on people everywhere being afraid: “But fear isn’t going to help us now go on, that only helps Putin.”
Christian Hacke puts his finger in a wound that many would rather not open: “We made Putin strong through our half-heartedness and naivety.” Nevertheless, Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons shows the plight he is in, summed up General Vad: “A long war will break his neck politically.” Gesine Dornblüth, on the other hand, is stunned when, in the political discussion, she repeatedly hears the demand that Putin finally cede the territories that have already been occupied in violation of international law, so that he can calm down: “Him It’s not about Ukraine at all, it’s about Europe as a whole.”
“Hard but fair” (ARD): Can Ukraine withstand Russia?
Now the TV viewers of “Hart aber fair” come into play, and from Hesse comes the worried realization that Putin cannot afford to be defeated: “How would the great power Russia look with its huge army?” Frank Plasberg immediately passed the question on to the group: “Does anyone believe that Ukraine can withstand the superiority of Russia?” Erich Vad recalls the examples of the past from Vietnam to Iraq to Afghanistan, where the Russians and NATO ultimately bled dry are: “Defeated by the Taliban, with sneakers, Kalashnikov and little equipment.”
| “Hard but fair” with Frank Plasberg (ARD) | The guests of the show |
|---|---|
| Omid Nouripour | B’90/Green Federal Chairman |
| Gesine Dornbluth | journalist |
| Marina Weissband | German-Ukrainian journalist, member of the Greens |
| Christian Hacke | political scientist |
| Eric Vad | retired brigadier general |
| Isabel Shayani | Journalist, moderator Weltspiegel |
Marina Weisband also believes in the steadfastness of the Ukrainians on ARD near Plasberg, because Putin has not managed to take the country by surprise in the first 72 hours: “The more Putin demonstrates the Stalinist measures he is carrying out in his own country, the more the Ukrainians realize that there is no future for us in this country after we have fought for democracy.” And she talks about the everyday life of her relatives in Kyiv, who kept their sense of humor even during the war: “If there is fighting outside, then our hard of hearing uncle just turns up the volume on the TV so the kids don’t hear the gunshots.”
Nouripour on the Ukraine war on “Hart aber fair” (ARD): “Slide into World War 3”
Our Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock described the razor-thin line between arms deliveries to Ukraine and a military deployment by NATO as the choice between plague and cholera. “If Putin isn’t stopped,” Nouripour fears in “Hard but fair,” “it will go on: Moldova, Georgia, Kazakhstan, you don’t know. But a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO would be a slide into World War III.”
Hacke is impressed by the “grim self-assertion of the Ukrainians” and reminds us once again that we are not entirely innocent if Ukraine were to fall: “We provoked a number of things with Putin that shouldn’t have been.” He vehemently pleads for a neutral Ukraine and is surprised that neither the USA nor the NATO states have raised this idea. With admirably polite smugness, Gesine Dornblüth replies to Plasberg on ARD: “You know, or maybe you don’t know, that Ukraine was neutral in 2014 and yet it was attacked. Putin doesn’t want a neutral Ukraine, he wants to incorporate it. And create a new world order with the Chinese because they are the true representatives of democracy.”
overthrow in Russia? Discussion on the Ukraine war on “Hart aber fair” (ARD)
Donblüth sees no signs of a coup in Russia, because then millions of people would have to take to the streets. Only his closest circle and the oligarchs could make him rethink – and of course the immediate stop to energy imports.
To the broadcast
“Hard but Fair” (ARD) with Frank Plasberg. Topic of the program on February 7th, 2022: The Ukrainian tragedy: where is this war leading to?
The show in the ARD media library.
The fear of a nuclear war is a second concern in the emails from viewers to “Hart aber fair”. Nouripour understands these concerns, but does not want to be guided by the threats and fears built up by Putin: “Of course, this is a ride on a knife’s edge.” Hacke continues to see Ukraine’s neutrality as the philosopher’s stone, because that’s the only way everyone can save face withdraw, while Nouripour reiterates Ukraine’s sovereignty to choose which alliance to join.
The group continues to struggle for solutions, but ultimately does not find any practicable answers. A viewer then brings it to the crucial point: “Who will finally stop Putin’s madness?” But isn’t that overestimating the opposition in Russia, as Hacke suspects?
“Hard but fair” on ARD: The Ukraine war and the refugee issue in Europe
And how will the refugee issue affect Europe? “The euphoria for help is still there,” reports Isabel Schayani, an ARD reporter from the train station in Frankfurt an der Oder, “but that’s finally over because more and more refugees are coming.” And no one asks about those stuck between Belarus and Poland Refugees from the Middle East – not even Frank Plasberg (ARD)! Did they vanish into thin air or are they now slipping through to freedom!? A freedom that we can only show with harshness and receive increased sanctions – until Putin picks up the phone in Moscow, as Marina Weisband advises us. (Rolf Ruediger Hamacher)
