Status: 04/01/2023 1:24 p.m
Numerous social democrats and trade unionists have called on Chancellor Scholz to support peace negotiations in Ukraine. The initiator of the appeal is the historian Peter Brandt, son of the former Chancellor Willy Brandt.
Numerous social democrats and trade unionists have called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to do more to broker a ceasefire in the Ukraine war. The war had become “a bloody trench warfare in which there were only losers,” according to an appeal published in the “Frankfurter Rundschau” and the “Berliner Zeitung”. It says: “With every passing day the danger of escalating hostilities grows. The shadow of a nuclear war lies over Europe. But the world must not slide into a new major war.”
According to the information, the call was initiated by the son of former Chancellor Willy Brandt, the historian Peter Brandt. The world needs peace. “The most important thing is to do everything for a quick ceasefire, stop the Russian war of aggression and find the way to negotiations.”
Scholz should try, together with France, to win Brazil, China, India and Indonesia in particular for mediation “in order to quickly achieve a ceasefire”. That would be a necessary step “to stop the killing and to explore possibilities for peace”.
Thierse, Verheugen and Käßmann among supporters
Instead of military dominance, what is needed is the “language of diplomacy and peace”. The call “Make peace!” was reportedly signed by former SPD chairman Norbert-Walter Borjans, former Bundestag President Wolfgang Thierse and ex-EU Commissioner Günter Verheugen (both SPD). The former chairwoman of the council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Margot Käßmann, also supports the letter.
In addition to Peter Brandt, the initiators include the former DGB chairman Reiner Hoffmann, the federal chairman of Friends of Nature, Michael Müller, and Reiner Braun from the International Peace Office.