#ex-chancellor

#ex-chancellor

I've always been interested in structure and teamwork. Growing up, I was very active in sport. I wrestled competitively and was ranked in the province. That taught me discipline and the importance of working together towards a common goal.

The center-left Social Democrats (SPD), Germany's first political party, are struggling to muster their optimism in a year when five of Germany's 16 federal states are set to elect new parliaments. According to the latest opinion polls, the SPD could be voted out of power in two states that is has governed for decades. In two others, the SPD is polling in the single digits.

Merz has been under pressure following the US intervention in Venezuela. His reaction to the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro by the US military, was somewhat restrained and vague. The German chancellor described it as a "complex situation," also from a legal perspective, which the German government would now carefully examine. That was all. The words "breach of international law" did not pass the lips of the chancellor or his spokespeople.

Germany and the European Union must fundamentally rethink their relationship with the United States, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) advocates, as President Donald Trump's approach to international affairs raises doubts about the US's reliability as a partner and ally. The SPD, the junior coalition member in Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative-led government, argues in a policy paper set to be adopted by the party executive board that Germany must carry out a realistic reassessment of the trans-Atlantic relationship.

There are serious accusations on the table that must now be completely cleared up. I call for rapid and rigorous investigations,