In the run-up to the German federal election, Social Democratic Party (SPD) politicians are urging Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the party’s leadership to take a firmer stance against the new US President, Donald Trump. “The Chancellor and the SPD chief must give Donald Trump a piece of their mind”said SPD MP Axel Schäfer to the Tagespiegel on Friday.
Trump, according to Schäfer, endangers democracy and rules with oligarchs. “Joe Biden speaks the truth about this”he said, “Why are we silent?”Schäfer called on his own party to clarify that the upcoming federal election on February 23rd is a “directional decision”with regards to Trump. “CDU, AfD and FDP are submitting to the Trump regime”he said. “They stand for adapting and kneeling before Trump, especially CDU chief Merz, as shown by his obsequious letter to Trump.””Democracy is as endangered as it has not been since 1945 – the SPD must and will stand firm”he added.
Germany and Europe, as stated by former Bundestag President Wolfgang Thierse, are “not vassals of the USA.””We want and will not submit to Mr. Trump”he told the newspaper. “Germany, the federal government, must and will clearly demonstrate this.”Thierse urged people to “take seriously what Trump says and does”but added, “No one needs to flatter the enormous ego of Donald Trump. Neither sycophancy nor gestures of submission are necessary.””The SPD should clearly make this point in the election campaign”he said.
The USA, according to Thierse, is an important political, economic and military partner for Germany and Europe. The EU should continue to maintain a “partnership on an equal footing”with the USA. “In NATO, we are equal partners with the USA”he said.
Saxony-Anhalt’s SPD chair, Juliane Kleemann, stated that one should not give Trump the pleasure of being attacked with foam at the mouth. “But we Social Democrats, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, must stand up for our principles, also against Trump”she told the newspaper. “We must loudly say and with a straight back name Trump’s violations of democracy, the rule of law and the rule-based order. Other parties may flatter Trump now, but submissiveness is not the order of the day.”
Donald Trump, according to Kleemann, throws “all norms and rules over the board.””He wants to destroy the transatlantic partnership”she said.