Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) has described his Social Democratic Party’s losses in state elections in the Eastern states of Saxony and Thuringia as “catastrophic” and blamed the SPD’s anti-Russia policy for this. As a consequence of the election results, he called for a diplomatic initiative by the German government to end the war of aggression against Ukraine.
“The state elections went disastrously badly for the SPD,” Schröder told the news portal Table.Briefings. “The SPD made a mistake with the concept of a turning point in relations with Russia, especially in East Germany.” Despite “their justified criticism of Russia’s war” against Ukraine, the Social Democrats should now be “the force that is not content with supplying weapons, but is vigorously committed to negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.” These negotiations must be driven forward “independently of the USA,” Schröder said.
