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Proponent of lifting sanctions against Russia to run for German chancellor — DPA

It is reported that Wagenknecht stands practically no chance of winning the election, because usually the chancellor is a representative from a party with the most number of delegates

BERLIN, December 17. /TASS/. Sahra Wagenknecht, who thinks Berlin should take a different position with regard to Russia, will run for chancellor in Germany’s upcoming snap parliamentary elections, Christian Leye, secretary general of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - Reason and Justice (BSW), told DPA.

Thus, Wagenknecht will become the fourth female politician ever to be nominated for the position, following ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel, Foreign Minister of the resigning government Annalena Baerbock (in 2021) and Alice Weidel, the leader of Alternative for Germany (AfD) (in 2025). Additionally, the BSW will become the fourth party in German history to nominate a candidate for the chancellor’s office (Sister parties, the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union (CDU and CSU), together nominate a single candidate.)

That said, Wagenknecht stands practically no chance of winning the election, because usually the chancellor is a representative from a party with the most number of delegates. Leye explained that the BSW decided on this move due to "inflation" of candidates to the chancellor’s post, that is, because nowadays more parties are nominating their candidates while before 2021, only the CDU/CSU bloc and Social Democrats did so.

"The party leadership has no illusions or delusions of grandeur. However, we decided to do this so that our competitors won’t have an unfair advantage," he told the news agency. Leye explained that party leaders who are not officially nominated appear less credible than those who are. For instance, TV channels are more likely to give these kinds of candidates a platform on their biggest shows.

According to latest polls, support for the BSW has dropped by two percentage points to 6% since October. The party was created in January, buoyed by Wagenknecht’s popularity, after she left the Left Party. In September, her new political union did well in local elections in Brandenburg, Thuringia and Saxony, that is, the regions of the former German Democratic Republic. Observers suggested her success was due, among other things, to her critical assessment of Berlin’s policy with regard to Russia. In December, the BSW was included in the governments of Brandenburg and Thuringia as a junior partner with the Social Democrats and the CDU, becoming part of an official governing coalition at the federal state level for the first time.

Middle East conflict

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Trump will never provide US security guarantees to Ukraine — The New York Times

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