BERLIN: Former European Parliament President Martin Schulz vowed on Sunday to shake up German elections and unseat Chancellor Angela Merkel with a campaign aimed at overcoming “deep divisions” that he said had fueled populism in Germany in recent years.
Schulz, nominated to lead the Social Democratic Party (SPD), told over 1,000 people at its Berlin headquarters he would fight for fairer tax rules, better education and to ensure that people in rural areas had the same benefits as in big cities.
But Schulz will be hard pressed in this year’s elections to unseat Merkel, who has led Germany since 2005 and is Europe’s most powerful head of government. She also remains very popular despite discontent over her immigration policies.
“A jolt is going through the SPD. We want to build on this momentum,” Schulz, 61, said after the party’s executive committee voted unanimously for him to become the party’s top candidate in the September election. Party members will vote to formalize the decision in Berlin on March 19.
Schulz called for greater solidarity in Europe on the migrant issue and described the actions of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has resisted attempts by the EU to coordinate migration, as an affont to European unity.
He took aim at the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and its support for France’s far-right National Front party, saying Germans had experienced during the Nazi era where “blind nationalism” would lead.
The center-left party in a surprise move on Tuesday had announced it would nominate Schulz to replace current party leader Sigmar Gabriel, who said he was standing aside to enhance the party’s chances in the Sept. 24 election.
Gabriel said the SPD was serious about ending its role as a junior partner to Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats in the “grand coalition” that has ruled since 2013.
“Germany needs a new start that cannot happen with the (conservative Christian Democratic) Union,” he said. “We’ve come to the end of what we can achieve with a divided conservatives.”
German news magazine Der Spiegel portrayed Schulz as the party’s savior on Sunday, carrying a photo on its front cover of a beaming Schulz with the headline “Saint Martin.”
A poll carried out last week showed Merkel’s Christian Democrats would get 34 percent of the vote if the election were held today, while the SPD would win 23 percent.
The AfD would become the third largest party in Parliament with 13 percent of the vote, the poll conducted by Ipsos showed.
The Greens would win 11 percent, with the Left party seen winning 10 percent, a slight increase from previous polls.
The SPD wants to form a coalition with smaller parties on the left, but most analysts still think another right-left coalition is the most likely outcome of September’s election.
Schulz vows to shake up German elections
Schulz vows to shake up German elections
IAEA board meets over Ukraine nuclear safety concerns
- The war in Ukraine “continues to pose the world’s biggest threat to nuclear safety,” Grossi said
- The mission will assess 10 substations “crucial to nuclear safety,” according to Grossi
VIENNA: The UN nuclear watchdog’s board of governors on Friday discussed nuclear safety in Ukraine, with several countries expressing “growing concern” following Russian attacks on the power grid.
Energy supplies to Ukraine’s nuclear plants have been affected as Russia has pounded its neighbor’s power sector since the start of its 2022 invasion, prompting fears of a nuclear disaster.
The war in Ukraine “continues to pose the world’s biggest threat to nuclear safety,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said when opening the board meeting.
The extraordinary meeting that lasted four hours was called after 13 countries led by the Netherlands expressed in a letter seen by AFP a “growing concern about the severity and urgency of nuclear safety risks” following a series of attacks.
Ukrainian ambassador Yurii Vitrenko told reporters before the meeting that it was “high time” for the IAEA board to discuss the situation.
A weeks-long IAEA expert mission to Ukrainian substations and power plants is under way and expected to wrap up next month, Vitrenko said.
The mission will assess 10 substations “crucial to nuclear safety,” according to Grossi.
Russian Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov dismissed the board’s gathering as “absolutely politically motivated,” adding there was “no real need to hold such a meeting today.”
Last week, Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant temporarily lost all off-site power.
Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia, occupied by Russian forces since March 2022, has also been repeatedly affected by fighting.
Earlier this month, Russia and Ukraine agreed to a localized ceasefire to allow repairs on the last remaining backup power line supplying Zaporizhzhia.
The line was damaged and disconnected as a result of military activity in early January.
The Zaporizhzhia plant’s six reactors have been shut down since the occupation. But the site still needs electricity to maintain its cooling and security systems.
Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of risking a nuclear catastrophe by attacking the site.
