Scholz asks his coalition to “recompose itself” immediately after the poor results of the European elections

The German chancellor declares himself convinced that he will stand for re-election in next year’s elections

BARI (ITALY), June 15 (DPA/EP) –

The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has asked his coalition to “recompose itself” immediately from the setback of the last European elections, marked by the success of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

“I think one of the most justified criticisms from many citizens is that there is too much debate. In the end, many things are decided, but sometimes you can’t even see what the decision is behind all the gun smoke,” he stated. Scholz in an interview with the ZDF station this Saturday, during the G7 summit being held in southern Italy.

In other interviews with RTL and ntv, Scholz has stated that it would not be possible to return to normality after the major electoral defeats of the three coalition parties: Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats.

The Social Democrats or SPD, the main party of the current Government, were relegated to third place, behind the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

The SPD, in whose campaign Chancellor Scholz was personally involved, plummeted to 13.9 percent, its worst historical result in a national election and far from the 30 percent achieved by the conservative bloc led by the CDU. .

The Social Democrats’ partners in the Government have also fallen, since the Greens have lost almost half of the votes, reaching 11.9 percent, and the Liberals have obtained 5.2 percent of the votes. according to the final scrutiny.

Scholz explained to ZDF that the immediate issue will be next year’s budget, a task “that will have to be resolved soon, at the beginning of next month, and that means that we have to act together in the way of reaching agreements.”

Looking ahead to next year’s general elections, Scholz is confident of being able to present a good balance and good prospects, despite the recent defeat in the European elections. “But I want to say explicitly that this means that everyone has to pause for a moment and firmly commit to this, keep their heads down.”

Scholz, however, has declared himself convinced that he will once again be a candidate for chancellor for his center-left party in next year’s general elections, despite the setback in the recent elections to the European Parliament. In an interview with ARD television when asked if he was sure that he would be the Social Democrats’ next candidate for chancellor in the 2025 elections, he responded with a dry “Yes.”