German discontent with the SPD leadership is growing, particularly among its foreign policy experts. The former Governing Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, expressed his disappointment in an interview with the Spiegel, stating that the party’s leadership had missed an opportunity to have a prominent figure like Rolf Mützenich, the former faction leader, take over the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Instead, the post went to Armin Laschet, a CDU politician, as a consolation prize.
Müller, a former member of the committee, believes the loss of a leading role in foreign policy is “absolutely disappointing.” He questions whether the SPD is abandoning its foreign policy ambitions, saying, “We cannot criticize the positions of the Union, demand more diplomacy and at the same time give up the instruments that allow us to make our positions visible. It is clear that foreign policy has no priority for the leadership at the moment.”
Markus Töns, the European affairs spokesperson for the SPD parliamentary faction, also regrets the loss of leadership in foreign and European affairs. “That was not a smart move” he said in an interview with the Spiegel. He had hoped that Mützenich would become the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, adding, “In that way, we would have maintained our visibility in foreign policy, unfortunately, that is no longer the case.