Markus Lanz talks to his guests about the energy crisis, the gas levy and further dealings with Russia.
Hamburg – In the third show after the summer break, the gas allocation was the starting point for Markus Lanz on ZDF for the third time. This gave rise to a discussion that tried to grasp the big issues of our time, i.e. the war in Ukraine and Germany’s energy supply – albeit with little success.
In recent months he has often been a guest via video link, now he personally found his way to the studio: Reiner Haseloff from the CDU, Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, who emphasized with Markus Lanz on ZDF that Germany was facing difficult times in the coming months could. Coal transport trains could be given priority over passenger trains, managing the shortage, preventing the economy from collapsing is the immediate goal of politics and business.
ZDF Talk Markus Lanz: Energy crisis and gas levy
Anne Hähnig, a journalist at Die Zeit , criticized Germany’s dependency on Russian gas in recent years. She said about Markus Lanz on ZDF: “I miss the sentence ‘I was terribly mistaken’ in some East German politicians. “. On the one hand, Haseloff also warned against being too dependent on Russian gas, but on the other hand he supported the construction of Nord Stream 2. The crux of the matter is and remains that the necessary attempt to switch to renewable energies also brought with it the need to find an interim supply. And that was cheap Russian gas.
The guests at Markus Lanz – broadcast from August 18, 2022
| Reiner Haseloff | Politician |
| Anne Hahnig | journalist |
| Sonke Neitzel | military expert |
| Ruediger von Fritsch | ex-diplomat |
And as Rüdiger von Fritsch, former ambassador in Moscow, honestly emphasized: everyone took part. Politicians from all parties, the economy, the population were enthusiastic about the possibility of heating with cheap Russian gas. However, the consequences were hidden and are now falling at people’s feet.
Markus Lanz on ZDF: Sönke Neitzel raises interesting questions
Sönke Neitzel, Professor of Military History, did not want to let things go that easily. Did the government, did the damile Chancellor Angela Merkel warn of the consequences of working too closely with Putin, he asked Markus Lanz on ZDF? Has the population really been made aware of who you are doing business with? But would that really have been possible? With hindsight, it’s undoubtedly always easier to say that things should have been done differently years ago, but what’s the point of such discussions?
Sönke Neitzel raised the interesting question of whether Merkel’s chancellery had ever really discussed the possibility that the Russian regime under Vladimir Putin would escalate the aggressive policy that began with the war in Georgia and the annexation of Crimea.
A participant like Rainer Haseloff with Markus Lanz on ZDF could not or did not want to give an answer. Haseloff did not even want to admit that he was particularly close to Russia, on the contrary: it was a great joy when Russia withdrew from Germany. However, even the Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt was unable to explain why he and other politicians from the East voluntarily became dependent on Russia for energy policy.
ZDF Talk Markus Lanz: The issue of sanctions against Russia
Well, the war in Ukraine has been going on for half a year and seems to have reached a stalemate. A topic of discussion with Markus Lanz on ZDF were the sanctions against Russia, which some parts of the population and the economy consider pointless. Rüdiger von Fritsch argued that the sanctions imposed on Russia are having an effect, not in the short term, but in the long term. Sönke Neitzel, on the other hand, said that the sanctions will not end the war. But could this situation have been prevented?
In his program on ZDF, Markus Lanz has long been acting as a dedicated opponent of Russia, who has allegedly always warned of the dangers of the big neighbor from the east. (Which made it all the funnier and more absurd that the former editor-in-chief of Bild , Julian Reichelt, claimed on Twitter that Frank Plasberg, the only public-rights talk show host who was not left-wing extremist, would soon be stepping down!)
Rüdiger von Fritsch, on the other hand, emphasized that politics, and even more so diplomacy, always acts in the now. Criticizing decisions made one, five or even ten years ago with today’s knowledge is completely pointless and lacks any reality.
Markus Lanz
The talk from August 18, 2022 in the ZDF media library
ZDF Talk: Markus Lanz’s show ends indefinitely
As was to be expected given the topic, this Markus Lanz round also ended indefinitely: the big questions of the moment cannot be brought to a satisfactory conclusion in 75 minutes, what a way out of the Ukraine war could look like, like the energy supply Germany can also be secured beyond the winter; All of these are questions that will certainly be discussed by Markus Lanz on ZDF in the coming weeks and months. (Michael Meyns)
