The Grosse Koalition above all. Martin Schulz, leader of the SPD, has formalized the resignation from the post of foreign minister that the chancellery Angela Merkel had arranged for him. In a note, the former president of the European Parliament underlined his desire to "close the debate on the nominations so as not to jeopardize the vote of the party base on the future German government".
The Social Democrats have harshly criticized their leader, accusing him of not having respected the commitments made and of having bowed to Merkel's will. On Thursday, the current Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel lashed out at Schulz: "What remains is only the displeasure of seeing at what point in the SPD we act with little respect towards each other and to see that one's word counts for so little".
Schulz, announcing his resignation, nevertheless wanted to focus on the progress made in the last few months of discussions and debates that led to the formation of the grand coalition: "I have always stressed that we would have entered into a coalition if our demands had been in the contract of social democrats for an improvement in education, welfare, social security, work and taxation. I am proud to say that this happened. And therefore for me it is even more important that the members of the SPD vote in favor of this contract, since they are exactly as convinced of these contents as I am".
March 4 will be a decisive date for the future political and economic arrangements of the European Union, and not just for the Italian elections. In fact, that day the definitive opinions of the approximately 460 members of the SPD, called to pronounce themselves on the Grosse Koalition, should be announced.
The party leadership has openly sided in favor of the agreement, and Schulz's step back goes in the same direction. To date, no one wants to even think about a possible no from the Social Democrats, considering that in that case there would be two hypotheses: a Merkel minority government or a return to the polls.
