There is criticism in the SPD of party leader Lars Klingbeil calling for a “leading power” for Germany on Tuesday. She considers this “a completely wrong understanding of the German role,” said Juso boss and member of the Bundestag Jessica Rosenthal to “Spiegel”.

Rather, the German self-image must be on an equal footing with its partners, Rosenthal continued. This applies all the more “precisely because we have learned and must learn from our history”.

A social-democratic turning point is “more than a focus on the military,” Rosenthal continued. Social security is needed right now – nationally and internationally. “The SPD must continue to stand up for peace, rely on diplomacy and international understanding as well as strengthen prospects for disarmament in the long term,” emphasized the Juso boss. She “greatly missed” this social-democratic understanding of the turning point.

The chairman of the SPD grouping Forum Demokratische Linke 21 (DL21), Sebastian Roloff, was also critical. “I can only understand Lars Klingbeil’s speech as the start of a debate, because such theses have to be discussed in the party,” he also told the “Spiegel”.

Something like that “can’t be decided by the top alone,” he called for a program decision. “If there is talk of a leading German power or the legitimacy of military force, I definitely see a great need for discussion,” Roloff continued.