European election campaign
SPD declares war on right-wing populists in Europe
Katarina Barley leads the SPD as the top candidate in the European elections on June 9th. photo
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Joining forces before a difficult European election campaign: The SPD demonstrates unity in the election of its top candidate. Katarina Barley should not lead the party alone in the election campaign.
With almost 99 percent approval for top candidate Katarina Barley and a declaration of war on right-wing populists, she is pulling SPD in the European election campaign. Barley, 55, called the June 9 vote at a delegate conference in Berlin on Sunday a “directional decision.” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was counting on a “clear vote against the right”. Both want to lead the party together in the election campaign. Despite poor poll numbers, Scholz is expected to play a key role in the campaign alongside Barley.
Barley: “I’m really excited”
Of 149 delegates, only two voted against Barley – that corresponds to 98.66 percent approval. Barley accepted the election. “I’m really keen,” she said before the vote.
The 55-year-old was already the top candidate in the last European elections in 2019. Back then, too, she received the approval of 99 percent of the delegates when the candidate was chosen. In the election, the SPD achieved its worst result to date in a nationwide election with 15.8 percent.
Barley told the dpa that she now wants to significantly improve this result. However, she did not name a specific target. “I don’t believe in painting numbers on the wall at all.”
Barley warns of “new Nazis”
In her speech, Barley used clear words against the AfD, whose leader Alice Weidel had brought up Germany’s exit from the EU as an option just a few days ago. The AfD would “put the German economy in dire straits in the shortest possible time,” said Barley. “These people want to transform our democracy into arbitrary rule.” With a view to the recently uncovered right-wing extremist meeting in Potsdam, in which AfD politicians also took part, Barley spoke of “new Nazis” who were planning deportations of people with foreign roots.
As Vice-President of the European Parliament, Barley has, among other things, advocated for decisive action against violations of the rule of law in the European Union. Before her career in the European Parliament, the lawyer was Federal Minister of Justice, previously Family Minister and SPD General Secretary. The fact that she feels European through and through is due to her family history: the Cologne-born mother is German and her father is British. She studied in Paris, among other places.
Barley and Scholz as a campaign duo
Barley is expected to receive support in the election campaign primarily from Scholz. General Secretary Kevin Kühnert announced before the delegates’ conference that the two should be “together the faces of the election campaign”. The decision is not without risk. Scholz’s personal popularity ratings in surveys are lower than any of his predecessors. The SPD is only between 13 and 16 percent in the polls for the federal election. In the 2021 election, after which Scholz became chancellor, it was still 25.7 percent.
Unrest is growing in the ranks of the SPD. As was the case at the federal party conference in December, this was not visible at the delegate conference. There was no criticism of Scholz or the traffic light government.
This time, Scholz, who is audibly cold, does not take the delegates with him
A few days ago, in a “Zeit” interview, Scholz admitted his government’s mistakes for the first time, criticized himself and praised improvements. However, he was unable to give a rousing speech like at the federal party conference on Sunday. Nevertheless, the 20-minute appearance of the Chancellor, who was audibly cold and in which, unlike usual, he spoke without a manuscript, was greeted with standing applause.
Scholz emphasized the importance of the European Union for Germany. “The strongest national interest we have in Germany is a strong European Union,” he said. As the most populous and economically strongest country, Germany has the task of leading the way in the EU.
The Chancellor also held the partner countries responsible – especially when it came to arms deliveries to Ukraine. It cannot be the case that Germany is providing more than seven billion euros this year, more than half of what the other EU countries are doing together.
Klingbeil: “It will be a tough election campaign”
Party leader Lars Klingbeil said most clearly that the election campaign will not be easy for the SPD. “It will be a tough election campaign, it will be an election campaign that will challenge us, it will be an election campaign in which the wind will blow hard in our faces.”