Most Germans do not favor the return of Angela Merkel

A clear majority of Germans do not want Angela Merkel to be re-elected as chancellor, according to a poll released by the Seeway Institute for Funke Media Group.

About 71 percent of those surveyed said they did not want senior politicians to return to their previous positions. After holding the post of German chancellor for 16 years, Merkel stepped down after last year’s election.

Some 43 percent of those surveyed, however, said they thought Merkel had performed her duties better than current Chancellor Olaf Schulz. However, 41 percent of people had the opposite opinion and 16 percent did not give any opinion on this topic.

Interestingly, Merkel’s popularity is higher in East Germany than in West Germany. According to the survey, 52 percent of respondents in the eastern part of Germany preferred Merkel over Schulz, while 42 percent of those in the west of the country supported her.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that before she left her post last year, she would have joined French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin to find a solution to tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Europeans wanted to establish the format but could not do so due to lack of authority.

In an interview published in the German journal Der Spiegel, Merkel said, “I didn’t have the authority to push this idea, because everyone knew I wouldn’t be in office in the fall.” “

The former chancellor had long ago hinted that she would step down after the national elections in September 2021. He resigned in December 2021. She went to Moscow on her last official visit in August last year.