heute journal 28.01.24 FDP und SPD vor Europawahl, CDU-Landrat in Thüringen, Gazastreifen (english)

Katarina Barley zieht für die SPD, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann für die FDP in den Europa-Wahlkampf. Die deutschen Handballer verlieren das Spiel um den dritten Platz bei der Europameisterschaft. Frankreich gewinnt das Turnier.

English Subtitles
Today’s topics: SPD party conference ahead of European elections – Call for “clear vote against the right”; Chancellor’s party in crisis – Questions for the SPD Secretary General; Settlement of the Gaza Strip – Plans by Israel’s radical right wing.

00:00 Vorspann

00:49 SPD und FDP: Spitzenkandidaten für Europawahl

Die SPD schickt erneut Katarina Barley als Spitzenkandidatin in den Europawahlkampf. Die FDP geht mit Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann als Spitzenkandidatin an den Start.

04:26 Kevin Kühnert: „Wahrhaftiges Politikangebot“
„Mit einer Denkzettelwahl – egal gegenüber wem – kann man sich genau für einen Abend Befriedigung verschaffen. Es geht um so viel”, so SPD-Generalsekretär Kühnert zur Europawahl.

09:27 CDU gewinnt Landratswahl in Thüringer Saale-Orla-Kreis
Die AfD verpasste bei der Landratswahl im Thüringer Saale-Orla-Kreis einen zweiten Landratsposten. Der CDU-Politiker Herrgott gewann in der Stichwahl gegen den AfD-Kandidaten Thrum.

12:50 Nachrichtenüberblick

19:21 Gerlach: „Man muss das schon ernst nehmen“
Die Weltöffentlichkeit habe sich zu sehr daran gewöhnt, über eine Rhetorik von Wiederbesiedlungsplänen hinwegzusehen, sagt Nahostexperte Daniel Gerlach.

22:42 Nachrichtenüberblick 2

24:43 Kein Happy End zum EM-Abschluss
Die deutsche Handball-Nationalmannschaft verpasste bei der Heim-EM knapp Bronze und ging leer aus. Im Spiel um Platz drei unterlag das DHB-Team den starken Schweden mit 31:34.

27:30 aus:blick auf die Woche
Mit den Themen: Bundesweiter Ärztestreik +++ Vier Jahre Brexit +++ Sondergipfel der EU in Brüssel.

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Hier auf ZDFheute Nachrichten erfahrt ihr, was auf der Welt passiert und was uns alle etwas angeht: Wir sorgen für Durchblick in der Nachrichtenwelt, erklären die Hintergründe und gehen auf gesellschaftliche Debatten ein. Diskutiert in Livestreams mit uns und bildet euch eure eigene Meinung mit den Fakten, die wir euch präsentieren.

Abonniert unseren Kanal, um nichts mehr zu verpassen.
Immer auf dem aktuellen Stand seid ihr auf https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten.

#Spitzenkandidatinnen #Gaza #heutejournal

POLITICAL LITMUS TEST FOR COALITION: SPD AND FDP CHOOSE FRONT-RUNNERS FOR EU 2024 CHANCELLOR’S PARTY IN CRISIS: INTERVIEW WITH SPD GENERAL SECRETARY AMBITIONS OF THE RADICAL RIGHT: THE GAZA STRIP AS AN ISRAELI SETTLEMENT? And now, the “heute journal” with Gundula Gause and Christian Sievers. Good evening.

Perhaps today we can risk using a superlative for a change. Why? Because the world is facing a truly pivotal election year. Never before have so many been called on to vote. There are elections in India and the USA.

Then there are events called elections but don’t offer a real choice, such as in Russia. And Europe is electing a new parliament. For Germany, that marks the start of the 2024 super election year. And for the SPD, the chancellor’s party, it feels like everything is at stake.

For its European election campaign, the SPD is relying on a poster child who’s not even standing for election and whose approval ratings are plummeting. His name is Olaf Scholz. Two coalition partners held their pre-EU-election party conferences today. Andreas Huppert reports. Strong voices for Europe, including two who will lead the way.

That’s the SPD’s plan for the European elections. Katarina Barley, the chosen lead candidate, with the federal chancellor at her side. The “strong voices” idea seemed to be working… although Olaf Scholz was feeling a little weak. The poster here says: “Germany’s strongest voices for Europe”.

But some virus or other has decided it needs to “help” my voice a little. It was somehow symbolic of the SPD’s situation. Germany’s social democracy is weakening. It is suffering. Never have the polls been so devastating. The most recent ZDF “Politbarometer” recorded an all-time nationwide low of 13%.

Scholz was always a driving force for the SPD. The party’s upswing at the end of the 2021 election campaign had a lot to do with him as a person. But looking at his poll ratings, the reverse is now true. So, it was quite a courageous decision

To have these two figures, Scholz and Barley, fronting this election campaign. Our pundit calls it “courageous”. The SPD party chairman describes it as “the only option, the right course”. We can succeed by doing our job and working to improve people’s everyday lives. That means decent pay and affordable rents.

It means spaces in daycare centres and beds in hospitals. It’s about us showing confidence. The SPD also aims to harness the street protests against the AfD and their fellow travellers to win back lost votes. The fight against the far right, here in Germany and in Europe,

Is apparently a core part of the SPD brand. The European elections are an opportunity for the citizens of this country to cast a clear vote against right-wing extremism. Every member of the SPD is part of the tradition of resistance against all forms of extremism and inhumanity and of championing peaceful coexistence in freedom.

That’s who we are, and that’s what Germany and Europe need right now. Different party, different colours, same problems. The FDP, too, is haemorrhaging voters, so many that it wouldn’t even get back into the Bundestag if there were an election now. The FDP’s European party conference, was also held in Berlin.

They’ve chosen Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann as their lead candidate for the European election. And here, too, the fight against the far right is at the top of the agenda. Never again. That is an appeal that doesn’t apply just to the past.

Never again is a mission for the present and future, and we accept that mission. The FDP, too, is at odds with its coalition partners. The constant strife is costing it at the polls. Its top candidate takes particular issue with its coalition partners’ divergent stance on military aid for Ukraine.

How do we deal with the crises in the world? I wish the chancellor would not only take a clearer position, but would also keep his promise to stand by those who need our help. The European election battle, with emphasis on “battle”.

For both parties, 9 June is primarily a fight for votes for Europe. But domestically, it’s a fight for their political future. And now, a few quick questions for the man in charge of the SPD’s European election campaign. This is Kevin Kühnert’s first major election campaign as the party’s general secretary.

Mr Kühnert, good evening, -Good evening, Mr Sievers. Olaf Scholz features on your posters for elections, even though he’s not a candidate and even though his approval ratings and poll numbers are disastrous. How can you call him a driving force of the party?

Katarina Barley and Olaf Scholz will both play an important role in this campaign. I’ll tell you why: We want to give the people a robust political option. They know that European politics is complicated. There is the Parliament, the Commission and the national governments.

And many feel that everyone is always talking at cross purposes. So, the point we’ll be making clear in our election campaign is that Social Democrats, both in Berlin and Brussels, are pulling in the same direction. Barley and Scholz both stand for better wages in Europe, for affordable energy prices,

For a common minimum corporate tax rate so that we’re not all lumbered with fiscal dumping or worse. Our voters can count on that. I can’t see Friedrich Merz and Ursula von der Leyen double-billing for the CDU like this without it causing serious ructions.

If you put the chancellor on the election posters the European elections, aren’t you inviting voters to use the election as a protest vote, to punish our national politicians? I can’t tell people how to vote. If people feel they have to do that, then they have to do it.

But that would be short-sighted because the electoral cycle is five years. With a protest vote, no matter against whom, it’ll feel great for precisely one evening. And you’ll be stuck for five years with leaders whose policies you didn’t actually choose. There’s too much at stake. Ms Weidel has opened Pandora’s box.

She and her AfD partners want to vote on a so-called “Dexit”. One in five jobs in Germany depends on the EU, and every second export product goes to the EU, yet she wants Germany out of the EU. That’s what the election is about.

People could use it to cast a protest vote against the German government. But I personally think that’s not the point. There are already 200 parties and voter groups in the European Parliament, an incredible diversity of opinion. I think it’s important to support those who are willing to compromise

And want to work on solutions. That’s all well and good, but look at the last European elections. The SPD got just 15.8% of the vote. At the time, that was its worst ever result in a nationwide election.̨ After that, Andrea Nahles resigned as party chair and parliamentary leader.

Can the chancellor simply stay on if the SPD performs even worse this time? We could skip four and a half months of campaigning and pretend the election is already decided. I look at the polls too, but they are not election results. We are campaigning for… -No, of course not, Mr. Kühnert,

But one recent poll puts the SPD at 9% in the European elections. Yes, Mr Sievers, but as someone who saw first-hand what happened in 2019, I want to make one thing clear: The SPD of spring 2019 no longer exists. It was a party that was inwardly rotten,

Whose people showed no solidarity or mutual trust. And by the way, Andrea Nahles was by no means solely or even principally to blame for that. We have put that behind us and done a lot to clean up our act.

We never want to go back to the way things were back then, and we never will. If, like the SPD, you espouse solidarity on your election posters, you have a job to do. And that is to show solidarity both internally and externally. And that’s why we stand united. We’ll win elections together.

And if there are headwinds, we will face them together. That’s something everyone can count on. You call for solidarity, but then today we heard from the FDP’s lead candidate. Here’s what she said about Olaf Scholz in the context of aid for Ukraine: “In this respect, he is not my chancellor.”

She says this, even though she is in the coalition with him. Is that the motto now? Every man and women for themselves? Well, that’s a remarkable statement. First, whether Ms Strack-Zimmermann likes it or not, Olaf Scholz is actually her chancellor. He is the chancellor of all Germans. That’s just a fact.

Secondly, it surprises me that the statement was made with reference to aid for Ukraine. For two years, Ms Strack-Zimmermann has been calling for virtually every weapon known to man to be supplied to Ukraine and completely overlooks the fact that Germany is now the second largest aid donor after the USA.

She overlooks the fact that the chancellor she so harshly criticises is the one now calling on our European partners, who often posture in Kyiv but provide little aid, to finally put their money where their mouth is. She should be proud that this chancellor is serious about aid and about demanding solidarity from others.

But if she wants to run her election campaign for European elections as an attack against her own chancellor and government, then I can only say good luck with that. We will not stoop to that level. Clearly, the European election campaign is playing out a bit within the coalition government.

Kevin Kühnert, General Secretary of the SPD, thank you for the interview. My pleasure. -Thank you very much. Let’s now look at an election today that is much, much smaller by comparison. Germany’s Saale-Orla district has a population of just under 80,000. The local license plates start with SOK, LBS, PIN and SCZ.

It’s not a metropolitan region, but it boasts no fewer than 15 nature reserves. And it’s attracting nationwide attention today, because this country wants to know who will be Saal-Orla’s new district administrator. The AfD was hoping to win the election. It would be the party’s second district adminstratorship win in Germany.

The results came out two hours ago: their bid failed. Daniela Sontag reports. While the AfD may want to drown it out, Christian Herrgott is the new CDU district administrator in the Saale-Orla district, succeeding his party colleague. The CDU narrowly retained the Schleiz district council office.

I am delighted to have won the election here in the Saale-Orla district. I intend to be a district administrator who represents everyone in this district, including those who abstained from voting and those who did not vote for me. The AfD missed out its second district win but remained defiant.

Candidate Uwe Truman was still confident of victory after the first round of voting, and he believes his party is on the rise despite its defeat. These at times cruel campaigns that were waged against my party and me personally have only made us stronger here in Thuringia.

We even managed to increase our margin in the run-off election. By “campaigns”, Thrum also means the protests against right-wing extremism. The most recent was against a citizens’ dialogue event with Björn Höcke in Kleindembach on Friday. The “Dorfliebe” LGBTQ alliance was there. There were more counter-demonstrators than expected,

Even though taking a stand against the AfD is not easy there. In rural districts like this, it’s harder to show your colours in public. In any case, it’s difficult. -Yes. We are certainly not going to sit back and say, “Yeah whatever, give it another go in six years.”

Two opposing camps: The mood here in rural Thuringia is divided. Much of the political good will has gone. More than half of the population is over 50, gross wages are well below the national average. Many people commute to work. People here feel they are invisible to the politicians in Erfurt and Berlin.

Politicians have nothing to offer us here in the rural districts with their tickets and whatnot. That means nothing to us. It’s the price of petrol and the like. Farmers. In his campaign, AfD candidate Thrum promised to do more for schools, sports facilities, hospitals: all local issues in this district.

That’s partly why the party doesn’t seem extreme to many people here. Everyone knows someone who’s voting AfD. For many, the counterprotests reinforce this attitude. That doesn’t hurt the AfD. Quite the contrary. It actually boots support for the AfD. It’s all orchestrated garbage by these so-called NGOs. For me, AfD is the centrist party.

A district administrator for everyone. That could be a tall order. And Saale-Orla is just the beginning. There will be more local elections in Thuringia in May. There’s a real movement on the streets of Germany and it made itself heard again today, Gundula? Yes, today, throughout Germany, more than 100,000 people again demonstrated

Against the rise of the extreme right. The focus today was Hamburg, where according to the police at least 60,000 demonstrators gathered. They protest was called by the climate protection organisation Fridays for Future and dozens of initiatives. There were also rallies for diversity and democracy and against right-wing extremism in numerous cities.

While Russia continues to attack Ukraine night after night, a massive case of corruption is confirmed in Ukraine, involving the procurement of weapons. According to the Ukrainian secret service, high-ranking defence ministry officials and employees of a foreign arms supplier were implicated in the scandal. The case involves grenades worth around 40 million dollars.

The ministry paid and the weapons were never delivered. In two weeks, Finland will choose a new president in a run-off election. The conservative former Prime Minister Stubb and the Green former Foreign Minister Haavisto will compete to succeed the incumbent Niinistö. None of the nine candidates received an absolute majority.

All candidates have announced a tough stance towards neighbouring Russia. In Jordan, three US soldiers were killed and dozens more injured in a drone attack. US president Biden stated that the attack near the Syrian border was carried out by Iran-backed radical groups. He said that the USA would bring those responsible to justice.

Around 3,000 US soldiers are stationed in Jordan. US bases in Iraq and Syria were also attacked recently. The world-famous “Mona Lisa” in Paris’ Louvre museum has once again been targeted by vandals. Two sustainable food activists threw soup hidden in a coffee thermos at the painting, which is protected by bulletproof glass.

The women were arrested and the Louvre announced criminal charges. The Mona Lisa’s protective glass was also targeted with cake in May 2022. The fact that we even know about a meeting between secret service chiefs from Israel, Egypt and the USA and the prime minister of Qatar is a revelation.

Plans are clearly in action for a war that’s harder to justify with each passing day. US government circles are now hopeful for a breakthrough for Gaza and for Israel. The plan would include the release of all hostages and Israel halting its military operation for two months. It would be a decisive turning point

In a conflict that has caused and continues to cause so much suffering. At the same time, a number of Israeli ministers are taking part in a remarkable conference in Jerusalem. The conference is focusing on plans for Gaza after the war and quite openly endorses “resettlement” plans for Israel.

The future of the two million Palestinians living in Gaza was not on the agenda. Luc Walpot reports. It’s a cold, rainy winter day in Jerusalem, but the mood in the congress hall is excited, nearly feverish. 3,000 supporters of the radical right-wing settler movement were in attendance,

Most of them from the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The war in Gaza, the terrorist attack by Hamas, the deaths, the suffering. Here in the hall, that’s all concentrated into an outbreak of euphoria. The T-shirts read: “Gaza, my home”. They think Gaza should be settled by Jews, occupation alone is not enough.

We will only achieve complete victory when we settle in the houses from where they wanted to murder us. Whoever doesn’t support us will have to live with it. All of this is our land and we should live there. Yes, but what about the Arab population in Gaza? Find another place to live.

There are 22 Arab countries where they can live happily. We don’t want them here. The majority in Israel probably don’t hold such extreme views. But Daniella Weiss, a figurehead for the extremist settlers and one of the organizers of the conference likes to remind people that the settlement movement in Palestine’s West Bank

Also started small. “Today, we are 500,000”, she said. The Gaza map on the wall shows the planned settlements. Weiss says this conference is just the beginning. We’ll apply pressure all over the country. Then, Netanyahu will see that the citizens of Israel will no longer accept Arabs in Gaza.

Only Jews will live in Gaza. For a long time, the settlers, who are about 10% of the population, existed on the fringes of right-wing politics. But their positions are increasingly being celebrated by the centre, and they are represented in the governing coalition by Finance Minister Smotrich and National Security Minister Ben-Gvir.

Netanyahu needs them for his political survival. The fanatics here know this and are openly celebrating their new strength. Their motto for Gaza is: “Occupy, colonise, win.” Now is the time for courageous decisions. It is the time to return home, back to Israel. It’s the time to manage the emigration of the Arabs,

The time to impose the death penalty on terrorists, the time to win. Death to the Arabs, death to the terrorists. That was the message from the visibly elated minister. There was no room for moderate proposals or constructive solutions from these Israeli citizens this evening in Jerusalem.

Let’s talk to the editor-in-chief of the specialist magazine “Zenith” . He always has an interesting insight behind the scenes of Middle East diplomacy. Good evening, Daniel Gerlach. -Good evening. Let’s perhaps start with the conference we’ve just seen. Some people in Israel, not just right-wing extremists, but also members of Netanyahu’s Likud party,

Have plans to colonize Gaza. Or perhaps we should say, they want to colonize the ruins of Gaza. Is that actually a workable plan? There are blatant advertisements for beachside villas in Gaza. That’s a dream for some of these people. Some have even suggested that land should be made available

To the soldiers fighting in Gaza as a reward. You have to take it seriously when the minister of national security makes speeches like this at his conference. The problem is that the Israeli public and, to a certain extent, the world media have become too accustomed to such speeches.

Many people, including members of the Israeli government, have dismissed these speeches and told the public to not take them seriously. I think we should take it seriously and take the danger seriously. I personally don’t believe that this plan for resettlement of Gaza by Jewish settlers will take place.

It would require a huge amount of effort, a huge amount of security infrastructure. And I think part of the Israeli public is also fed up with going along with these people as they have done in the past. Let’s talk about what I mentioned earlier: intelligence officers are meeting and exploring a breakthrough.

Releasing all the hostages in exchange for two months of ceasefire. Would that stand a chance in Gaza? Israeli government circles announced today that these talks were constructive and that some progress had been made. The technical implementation of such a plan would actually be possible. Of course, it depends to some extent

Whether the Arab side, the Egyptians and the Qataris, can put enough pressure on Hamas to stay calm and accept such a plan and to make compromises. But I see a different problem in the framework between the negotiating parties. David Barnea, the director of Israel’s foreign intelligence service Mossad, is trusted by the negotiators.

That goes for the USA, Egypt and Qatar. But they do not trust his supervisor, Benjamin Netanyahu. And that is a major problem. People involved in the negotiations are concerned that Netanyahu has plans to sabotage negotiations at the last minute. That’s their words, not necessarily my analysis.

However, this is a fear we should take seriously. They’re concerned that he would deliberately sabotage the negotiations and continue the war in order to maintain his position of power and not endanger the current Israeli cabinet structure. If a ceasefire actually led to an end to the war,

His government could be removed from power and new elections could be held. It’s important to understand this conflict of interest if you want to sufficiently analyse the frustration and internal conflicts among the negotiators. So there is some hope, but also many, many, many questions and uncertainties.

Daniel Gerlach, thanks very much for your analysis this evening. You’re welcome. We’re going to pivot now. There’s still a lot of sports on this Sunday, Gundula. We’ll start with the Sunday games in the Bundesliga. Borussia Dortmund defeated VfL Bochum 3:1, bringing Dortmund to fourth place in the rankings.

Earlier, Union Berlin, minus suspended coach Bjelica, secured an important home win in the relegation battle, beating bottom-of-the-table Darmstadt 98 by 1:0. Union Berlin is now 15th in the rankings. Tennis pro Jannik Sinner’s victory at the Australian Open sparked enormous jubilation in his home country of Italy. After a strong comeback,

The 22-year-old came through in five sets against the Russian Daniil Medvedev. It is Sinner’s first Grand Slam title, and the biggest success of his young career to date. The German team won a total of seven medals at the World Luge Championships in Altenberg, Saxony.

World Cup leader Julia Taubitz won silver in the single-seater and gold in the team relay. Along with Tobias Wendl, Tobias Arlt and Max Langenhahn, Dajana Eitberger and Saskia Schirmer gave the retiring national coach Norbert Loch a golden World Cup final. The Germans also dominated the Bobsleigh World Cup. In Lillehammer, Norway,

Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig narrowly won in the two-man bobsleigh, just ahead of Laura Nolte und Neele Schuten. It was a double success for the men, too. The four-man bobsleigh duel between Francesco Friedrich and Johannes Lochner raged. Friedrich landed in first place, just 22 hundredths of a second ahead of Lochner.

But both Friedrich and Lochner have already celebrated three wins this season. From rejoicing to the heavens, to the depths of despair. The German national handball team definitely delivered a series of strong emotions at the home European Championships. First, they kept millions glued to the TV with their plays.

Today, they missed their chance for a direct Olympics entrance and the bronze medal. However, one thing is certain: This riveting tournament at the European Handball Championships have proven that the nation has high hopes for the German team. Tibor Meingast reports. Disappointment dominated after the fourth defeat in their ninth and final championship game.

They had to hand it to the superior players. While fighting for the bronze, the Germans had a static attack and made too many mistakes for a world-class opponent like Sweden. They could only keep up in spurts against one of the world’s best teams.

The entire time, it felt like we were fighting and doing our best, but we couldn’t quite keep up. That’s just how it is. Knorr, Köster and their teammates played with a tremendous amount of energy. They were invincible against Iceland. Enthusiastic, disciplined and supported by an enthusiastic audience.

Occasionally, there were even flashes of intelligent gameplay, like in their confident performance against Hungary, but in the end, there wasn’t enough. Germany had a great first half in the semifinals against world champions Denmark. The tournament ended in defeat, but there were silver linings.

We have taken a huge step forward with our young team. I believe we’re many metres closer to the top three. Their third place dreams were stymied by Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Palicka. The German team also failed to exploit their chances. After fumbling the first half,

They made up ground with an impressive but ultimately unsuccessful comeback. The young Renars Uscins shone with eight goals of the final 31:34. This was his analysis: Maybe it has to do with the quality of play, but it might also just be the growing pains of a young team with young players.

President Steinmeier offered his condolences for missing out on Olympic qualification. The team still has a second chance in the spring. The national coach is hopeful. I’m very optimistic for this team. But something’s missing compared to France, who won the European Championship in the final against Denmark with 33:31.

The European Football Championship in Germany kicks off on June 14. That’s just five months from now. Just saying. Tomorrow is the start of a new week. Laura Barnick has an overview for us. OVER:VIEW After a third attempt at negotiations failed between the Marberger Bund and the Bargaining Association of German States,

Doctors from university hospitals nationwide will strike on Tuesday. They’re striking for more pay and better working conditions. Wednesday marks exactly four years since the UK left the EU, after more than 40 years of membership. Brexit cost the UK more than 162 billion euros in 2023.

The UK’s economy has suffered massively as a result, partly due to more difficult trade with the EU and the corresponding rise in food prices. The EU special summit next Thursday had already been announced by EU Council President Michel in December.   The heads of state and government

Will again discuss a 50 billion euro aid packet for Ukraine. Until now, it has been blocked by Hungary. The weather next week will bring mild temperatures and a lot of sun. High clouds could obscure the sunshine, but only in the north and central areas. The fog in the south should clear by midday,

With temperatures of 6 to 14 degrees. Tuesday will be much the same. Rain will come for the north on Wednesday and the south on Thursday. It’ll be a mild 6 to 13 degrees. I’ll be happy with the weather report until Wednesday rolls along.

From all our colleagues behind and in front of the cameras, thanks for watching. That was the latest from the “heute journal” editorial team. Marietta Slomka and Heinz Wolf will take over for us tomorrow. Did you want to say something else? -Yes! Stay up to date with “ZDFheute”

And later at 12:30 AM with “heute Xpress”. You don’t want to miss that. Have a nice evening. -Bye.