“Now that the Ukrainian army is going to retake territory, I hold my breath”

Letter of the day

The pension funds once had a fixed actuarial interest rate of 4 percent. Subsequently, the current interest rate became the benchmark. We all know what the consequence was for current and future retirees: no or only partial indexation, while the investment results were excellent.

The new pension system uses the investment results as a benchmark. The irony is that right now, investment returns are falling and interest rates are rising. That could be different next year though.

We make it unnecessarily difficult for ourselves by assuming daily rates, which means that the prospects and positions of the parties involved are constantly changing. What could be simpler than to assume a moving average return that has been realized over a longer period of time, say 20 years? We do not need a new pension system for this and it saves an enormous amount in implementation costs.
Sef Severens, Culemborg

Retirees

Can de Volkskrant in future post a different photo to pensioners than pensioners who are camping or busy on a golf course (First, 15/9)? There are bound to be photos of ordinary retirees.
Dick de Roos, Bedum

T(h) thanks

Germany needs its Leopard tanks for the defense of Germany, this newspaper writes about the arguments of our eastern neighbors not to deliver the military vehicles to Ukraine. In principle, of course, this is true. The state of the Bundeswehr seems to be comparable to that of the Dutch army: barely able to defend its own territory or that of allies.

But in this case the argument doesn’t hold. Because against whom are these tanks to defend Germany? Exactly: Russia. When German tanks in Ukraine help defeat Russia, they do exactly what they are intended to do. Every Russian tank destroyed by Ukraine is one less worry for Germany.

One could even say that this is a tactical advantage for Germany. After all, it is not the Germans themselves who have to do the dirty work.
Viktor Kamphuis, Deventer

War

President Zelensky is building a lot of goodwill in the West with his speeches, appeals and testimony. The horrifying images of massacres by the Russian army are clearly before our eyes.

Now that the Ukrainian army is about to retake territory, I hold my breath. In the column ‘Messages from the bomb shelter’ (First, 15/9) I read: ‘Now the brigades are looking for the Russian soldiers in the woods left behind by their leadership. They will not escape their punishment.’ That sentence makes me feel miserable.

Let’s hope Zelensky’s army command shows images of a more humane treatment of their Russian prisoners of war. Let the Russian soldiers help clearing the rubble; Get them to help build bridges and help rebuild houses. Come up with a more human image than what the Russians show.

Should soldiers, often boys between the ages of 18 and 25, be shot dead by the Ukrainian army, this forfeits the carefully built goodwill in the West. Treat them with respect.
Clara van den Hurk, Dordrecht

Dragon

What a beautiful photo of Ursula von der Leyen in the article about her ‘speech from the throne’: against the background of the European flag she looks like a Mary figure with her crown of twelve stars, a reference to the Bible book of Revelation, chapter 12: ‘There appeared in heaven an impressive sign: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a garland of twelve stars on her head.’

That woman is attacked by a dragon, who turns out to be the devil. If Von der Leyen is the woman with the star crown, is Putin the devil? Incidentally, the designer of the European flag, Arsène Heitz, is said to have been inspired by this Bible passage.
Marlies Jansen, Oegstgeest

Energy

We are in an energy crisis and must therefore deal with it sparingly and responsibly. The fact that the Renaissance school uses books and a blackboard with chalk instead of energy-hungry laptops and electronic blackboards is perhaps an example that deserves to be followed.
Hans van Noord, Utrecht

money laundering

Next week all money laundering products will be on sale at Jumbo.
Jan Rasterhoff, Tilburg