16 NEWS Best articles: Europe
THE WEEK 29 February 2020Asex scandalthat deservedto get publicityPolitico
(Brussels)For thefirsttimeinFrance’s modernhistory ,apolitician has resigned overasex scandal, says John
Lichfield.Benjamin Griveaux,President Macron’s candidate for mayor ofParis, quit afteravideo
of himmasturbatingwas postedonlin e. He sent it toagirlfriend, nowaleft-wing activist,two years
ago. The videowas madepubli cbythe woman’snew partner,aRussianperformanceartistwho
once nailed hi sscrotumtoRed Square. “Masturgate”, as the scandal hasbeen dubbed, hasoutraged
politicians of all stripes;theyfeelFrance’srelaxed attitudetowa rdstheir sex lives is endangeredby
online hounding by hard-rightandhard-left critics.Itr isks“Americanising” publiclife,theysay,and
threatens thefabricof French democr acy. Howabsurd. Griveauxwasaminister when he sentthe
video; thewoman wasastudent.Hewas married, with threesmall children, andcampaignedonhis
happyhome life andvalues; thescandal surelycallshis character andfitnessfor officeinto question.
Politiciansneedn’tbe sa ints–“but theyshouldavoid actinglike the most idiotic of teenagers”.Putin’s plan togobble up hisneighbourNovoye Vremya
(Kiev)Moscow is awash withrumoursthat the Kremlin is planninganother military operation onEuropean
soil, says Ivan Yakovina.VladimirPutin is weighing up how to stay inpowerbeyo nd 2024,whenhe
is constitutionallybarredfrom continuingaspresident. He’s currently pushing through constitutional
reforms aimedat cementinghis grip on power, buthispreferred option is even more ambitious:he
wants Russiatoabsorbneighbouring Belarus, allowing him to leadanew “UnionState” between the
two formerSoviet Republics.Putin sees thisannexation asaway ofrevivinghis flagging poll ratings
in advance of thereferendumtobeheld on his constitutional reforms. And AlexanderLukashenko,
Belarus’s autocraticpresident, is getting nervous;he hasreshuffled his topgenerals andis looking to
Nato countriesfor support.Russia, meanwhile,iss queezing Belarus’s oil supply. Themessage from
Moscowis cl ear: “Resistance isfutile”. Lukashenko has three options: he could giveup hiscountry
in exchange for “a safe life in Moscow”;he couldresist(and most likely lose);orhecouldhold early,
“truly democratic” elections, andsurrender power toasuccessor who could credibly ask forWestern
help.Butwhateverpathhechooses, Putin must not be allowedtoannexe Belarus as hedidCrimea.FRANCEBELARUSGermanyisonceagainmourning
thevictimsoffar-rightextremism,
saidBild(Berlin).Thelatest
atrocityhappenedinHanau,a
town 15 mileseastofFrankfurt,on
Wednesdaynightlastweek.Armed
withapistol,TobiasRathjen,43,
openedfireattwoshishacafés,
killingninestaff andcustomers,
andinjuringsixothers.Hewas
laterfounddeadinhisflat,having
apparentlytakenhisownlifeafter
killinghis72-year-oldmother.
Thosewhodiedinthecafé
attackswereallfrom“migrant
backgrounds”,accordingto
prosecutors,andRathjenhad
previouslyfantasisedabout“cleansing”Germany’spopulation.
Inarambling,24-pagedocumenthehadwrittenbeforehis
spree,thekillerdenouncedIslamandcalledforthe
“obliteration”of 2 4countries,includingMoroccoandthe
Philippines.Thesemurderswerecommitted“incoldblood”by
aman“drivenbyfantasiesofannihilationandracisthatred”.Themassacreisthethirdfar-rightattack inGermanyinthe
past eight months,said InesPohlin DeutscheWelle(Bonn).In
June,theconservativepoliticianWalterLübckewasmurdered
athishomeinHesse becauseofhisadvocacyformigrant rights.
Then, inOctober,ananti-Semiticgunmankilledtwopeople as
he triedunsuccessfullytostorm asynagogue inHalle. Now,
onceagain, right-wingextremism hasled tobloodbeingspilled
inourcountry.The perpetratorsofallthreeattacks shared “a
hatredofeverythingthatdoes notfittheirethnicdefinition of
Germany”. Farfrombeingisolated incidents, thesecasesare the
resultof “theracist,misogynisticand right-wingideology that
hasinsome circlesbecomesociallyacceptableagain”.TheHanauattackerwas“obviouslymentallyill”, said Stefan
KuzmanyinDerSpiegel (Hamburg).In November,hehad
contacted authoritiestocomplainofapowerfulsecret
organisationwhichwastappingintopeople’sbrainstocontrol
them.In hisonline post, Rathjen, abank clerk,claimed tohave
inventedDonaldTrump’sslogan“AmericaFirst”andpredictedtheplotsofHollywoodfilms.He
evenclaimedtohaveforeseenthe
careerofLiverpoolFC’sGerman
coach,JürgenKlopp(bywhom
Rathjenwasreportedlycoached
whileayouthplayeratBundesliga
clubEintrachtFrankfurt).Yethe
wasstillgivenafirearmslicence,
saidJörgQuoosinBerliner
Morgenpost.Howwasthis
“madman”abletogethishands
onagun?Hemayhavebeen
insane,saidWernerD’Inkain
FrankfurterAllgemeineZeitung,
buthewasabletofind
confirmationofhiswarpedworld
viewonline.It’shightimeour
lawsbeganaddressinginternethatespeech.Thekillingshappeneddaysafterthedramaticarrestsof1 2
far-rightextremistsaccusedofplottingattacksonmosques,
saidGudulaGeutheronDeutschlandfunk(Cologne).Thegroup- whichhadmembersacrossGermanyandreportedlyincluded
apoliceofficer–plannedtocreatea“civilwar-likesituation”
byattackingpoliticians,asylumseekers and Muslims,
prosecutors said.TheymetviaWhatsAppandwere eventually
foundinpossessionof guns andbomb-makingmaterials.
ItallshowsthatGermanyis“in the eyeofthe storm”as
levelsoffar-rightextremism increase theworld over, saidThe
Guardian(London).The latest atrocityhappenedat “the most
delicateofjuncturesforGermanpolitics”.AngelaMerkel,
whohasserved 15year saschancellor,issteppingdownbefore
electionsin 2021 ,and herparty, the CDU,facesa“full-blown
crisis”overhersuccessionafterher preferredchoicewasforced
tostepdown thismonth.Theearly frontrunner,Friedrich
Merz, wantsto courtthe AfD vote,which includesaround
onemillionformerCDUsupporters,and –ominously–hesays
hisparty shouldhavethe“courageto becontroversial”. The
CDU’spollratingsare atahistoric low,and the 2015 refugee
crisisisstillfuellingcallsforatougher stanceonimmigration.
Buteventsin Hanaushould givepausefor thoughttoanyone
temptedto “tame,accommodateor imitatethe far-right”.Germany’s far right: the poison is spreadingTobias Rathjen: “fantasies of annihilation and racist hatred”