The “open letter” to Chancellor Scholz caused a stir. Dieter Nuhr and Ranga Yogeshwar, among others, do not want to be criticized.
Frankfurt – Emma editor Alice Schwarzerscience journalist Ranga Yogeshwar, the writers Martin Walser and Juli Zeh, singer-songwriter Reinhard Mey, the cabaret artists Gerhard Polt and Dieter Nuhr as well as the filmmakers Andreas Dresen, Helke Sander and Alexander Kluge are among the signatories of the “Open Letters” to Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “Intellectuals and artists” (Emma) formulate their fears regarding a further “escalation” of the Russian war of aggression in the Ukraine.
The text was first published in the Emma. It contains the fear of a third world war, coupled with the call not to deliver heavy weapons to Ukraine. They share the “judgment on Russian aggression as a breach of the basic norm of international law”, but what can be deduced from it has “limits in other commandments of political ethics”: “Even the legitimate resistance to an aggressor is at some point in an intolerable disproportion.” The danger of escalation to a nuclear conflict is “not only something of the original aggressor’s concern, but equally “those who, with their eyes wide open, provide him with a motive for possibly criminal action”.
Science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar defends open letter to Olaf Scholz
The letter not only finds advocates. On the contrary. Many accuse the signatories of directing their fears to the wrong people and not to them Wladimir Putin to address. “You demand that Ukrainian women be left defenseless against the aggressors. Be ashamed of yourself,” says the association “Women for Freedom”, for example. FDPPolitician Konstantin Kuhle writes on Twitter: “If that were the attitude, then violent border shifts and war crimes would be the new normal. This position is insane.”
But the criticism rolls off the “intellectuals and artists”. The science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar and Dieter Nur. The former explains itself in the “Wochentester” podcast of the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. “It’s not about leaving Ukraine alone or that it should surrender,” says Yogeshwar. “The letter is about an escalation level at which something could happen with heavy weapons that we all don’t want.” He suspects that “it will not be the case that one fine day Ukraine will stand up and say: We won the war. Likewise, the reverse will not happen either.”
Open letter to Olaf Scholz: cabaret artist Dieter Nuhr defends himself
The war can only be ended through negotiations. “We mustn’t give in to the illusion that we can’t negotiate with them.” Accordingly, there can only be a compromise in the end: “It has to Russia and Ukraine are given the feeling that both players will emerge victorious from the war.”
Cabaret artist Dieter Nuhr expresses himself less diplomatically in his reaction to Facebook. “Inappropriate, irrational and sometimes, unfortunately, also mendacious” is the criticism that “twisted the letter beyond recognition”. It is common “that those who think differently are devalued by labeling and defamation”. Furthermore, “about half of the population of the Federal Republic supports what was demanded in the open letter” – in fact, in the current RTL / ntv trend barometer, 46 percent vote for a delivery of offensive weapons (May 3), at the beginning of April it was 55 percent been.
Dieter Nuhr on the Ukraine war: “Anyone who wages war must know what the goal is”
“Whoever wages war must know for what purpose. So far nobody has been able to tell me such a thing,” explains Nuhr. “So far, no one has explained to him [können]how heavy arms delivery could help pacify Ukraine”. He might find answers to these questions on Twitter: “The signatories of the #offenerbrief trust Putin to start a nuclear war. But if you don’t stop him with weapons now, he won’t attack even more Eastern European countries after Ukraine. How does that fit together?”, writes a user.
Under Nuhr’s Facebook post, VP points out: “Despite the statement, I have the feeling that the Ukrainians’ desire for freedom and their desire for support are being completely ignored. After all, we’re not sending weapons because we’re funny, but because we’re being asked to do so.” In addition, Russia “forfeited the right to negotiations for the time being through war crimes and lies. Nuclear power or not.” (Katja Thorwarth)