BERLIN (AP) — Several German parties on Saturday kicked off their campaigns for the election of the European Parliament in June with a focus on issues such as the war in Ukraine and support by many European voters for far-right nationalist parties across the continent.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz ’s center-left Social Democrats, or SPD, launched their official campaign for the June 9 EU election with a rally in Hamburg, Scholz’s longtime home city.
Responding to many German voters' fears their country could be drawn into Ukraine's war with Russia if it's too proactive in its military support for the eastern European country, Scholz tried to alleviate such concerns.
The chancellor reiterated that Germany would continue to stand by Ukraine’s side under his leadership as the second-largest arms supplier after the U.S., but would avoid a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.
“To those who are worried, who are afraid, I say: you can rest assured that no matter how the debates go, the German Chancellor, the government I lead, will not abandon the course of prudence, the course of balanced action and ensuring peace and security in Europe," he said, according to German news agency dpa.
“Peace” is one of the central terms on the SPD’s election posters, on which Scholz and European election top candidate Katarina Barley can be seen together.
The European Parliament is the only publicly elected body in the European Union. The EU was created after World War II to foster peace, and now has 450 million people and the world’s second-largest economy. Far-right parties and their discourse are expected to weigh heavily on election campaigning.
The far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, officially kicked off its campaign for the elections at an event in the southwestern town of Donaueschingen. The party’s top candidate in the elections, Maximilian Krah, canceled plans to speak after an assistant was arrested on suspicion of spying for China earlier this week.
Krah’s party has been polling strongly in Germany in recent months as discontent is high with Scholz’s three-party coalition government. It has long been criticized as having Russia-friendly positions.
However, the AfD's poll ratings have recently gone down compared with what they were before a media report in January about a plan by far-right politicians, including some by the AfD, to deport millions of people of non-German ancestry. The report triggered months of mass protests in the country against the rise of the far-right.
In Munich, the Christian Social Union, the smaller, Bavaria-only party in Germany’s main conservative opposition bloc, also held a convention ahead of the European Parliament election.
The head of the party and governor of Bavaria, Markus Soeder, sharply assailed the AfD for alleged links of some party members to Russia and China, dpa reported.
“Obviously, half of the AfD is involved in some kind of espionage activities or money transfers from other countries," Soeder told party members.
“The fact that active politicians are possibly being paid by Russia while at the same time calling for the end of NATO (makes them) nothing more than Kremlin servants, traitors to the fatherland and not patriots, dear friends. Away with them,” he added.
AfD leader Tino Chrupalla has called on his party to stand united following German media reports of possible involvement with Russia and China by leading AfD politicians, dpa reported.
“We will use the election campaign to show that we cannot be brought down so quickly and that we stand together as one,” said Chrupalla in Dnoaueschingen.
Referring to the recent accusations, he tried to depict his far-right party as a victim of smear campaigns.
“It has become adventurous to see the means by which our party is to be destroyed, how our party is to be damaged, how unrest and mistrust are to be created,” Chrupalla said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks at a Citizens' Dialogue organized by the Lüneburg SPD to kick off his party's European election campaign, in Luneburg, Germany, Saturday April 27, 2024. (Markus Scholz/dpa via AP)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks at a Citizens' Dialogue organized by the Lüneburg SPD to kick off his party's European election campaign, in Luneburg, Germany, Saturday April 27, 2024. (Markus Scholz/dpa via AP)
CANOAS, Brazil (AP) — A Brazilian horse nicknamed Caramelo by social media users garnered national attention after a television news helicopter filmed him stranded on a rooftop in southern Brazil, where massive floods have killed more than 100 people.
About 24 hours after he was first spotted and with people clamoring for his rescue, a team in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state on Thursday successfully removed Caramelo, providing a dose of hope to a beleaguered region.
The brown horse had been balancing on two narrow strips of slippery asbestos for days in Canoas, a city in the Porto Alegre metropolitan area that is one of the hardest-hit areas in the state, much of which has been isolated by floodwaters.
“We found the animal in a debilitated state,” Cap. Tiago Franco, a firefighter from Sao Paulo deployed to lead the rescue, was quoted as saying in a statement from that state’s security secretariat. “We tried to approach in a calm way.”
Firefighters and veterinarians climbed onto the mostly submerged roof, sedated and immobilized the horse and then laid him on an inflatable raft — all 770 pounds of him. The operation involved four inflatable boats and four support vessels, with firefighters, soldiers and other volunteers.
The rescue was broadcast live on television networks that filmed from their helicopters. Social media influencer Felipe Neto sent out updates to his almost 17 million followers on X as the rescue was underway. Afterwards, he offered to adopt him.
"Caramelo, Brazil loves you!!! My God, what happiness," he wrote.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's wife, Janja, posted a video of herself sharing the good news with the Brazilian leader, whispering into his ear at an official event. He smiled, gave a thumbs up and hugged her to him. Rio Grande do Sul's Gov. Eduardo Leite also celebrated the rescue, posting on X: “All lives matter, we stand firm!”
Caramelo is recovering at a veterinary hospital affiliated with a university.
Mariângela Allgayer, a veterinarian and professor at the institution, said Thursday afternoon on social media that he remains very dehydrated.
He is about 7 years old and, based on his characteristics, was likely used as a draft animal for a cart, Bruno Schmitz, one of the veterinarians who helped rescue and evaluate Caramelo, told television network GloboNews. He’s also very gentle, Schmitz added, which greatly helped with the administration of sedatives.
“It was a very difficult operation, well beyond the standards even for specialized teams. I think they had never been through something like this before, but thank God everything went well,” he said, then showed Caramelo standing up.
The stranded horse is just one of many animals rescue workers have been striving to save in recent days. Rio Grande do Sul state agents have rescued about 10,000 animals since last week, while those in municipalities and volunteers have saved thousands more, according to the state's housing secretariat.
Animal protection groups and volunteers have been sharing images of difficult rescues and heartwarming scenes of pets reuniting with their owners on social media. One video that went viral shows a man crying inside a boat, hugging his four dogs after rescuers went back to his home to save them.
Heavy rains and flooding in Rio Grande do Sul have killed at least 107 people. Another 136 are reported missing and more than 230,000 have been displaced, according to state authorities. There is no official tally for the number of animals that have been killed or are missing, but local media have estimated the number is in the thousands.
Not far from where Caramelo was rescued, pet owners in Canoas celebrated as they waited in line to get donations at a makeshift animal shelter organized by volunteers.
“So much bad news, but this rescue does give people here some more hope,” said Guilherme Santos, 23, as he sought dog food for his two puppies. “If they can rescue a horse, why not all dogs that are still missing? We can definitely do this.”
Carla Sassi, chairwoman of Grad, a Brazilian nonprofit that rescues animals after disasters, said she is meeting with state government officials in Canoas to discuss emergency measures to rescue pets.
Sá Pessoa reported from São Paulo.
Residents and their pets evacuate a flooded area after heavy rain in Sao Sebastiao do Cai, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Macedo)
A man rides a jet ski on a flooded street after heavy rain in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
A man, cradling a dog, wades through a street flooded by heavy rains in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Macedo)
Residents evacuate a flooded area after heavy rain in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Macedo)
A soldier evacuates a dog from an area flooded by heavy rains, in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Macedo)
A resident pulls belongings he recovered from his flooded home after heavy rain in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Macedo)
A woman and her pet are rescued from an area flooded by heavy rains in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Macedo)
People evacuate an area flooded by heavy rains in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
A woman cradling a dog wades through a street flooded after heavy rain in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Monday, May 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Macedo)
Cars are surrounded by flooded streets after heavy rain in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Macedo)
A resident carries his pets as he evacuates from a flooded area after heavy rain in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Macedo)
The area near the Guaiba River is flooded after heavy rain in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Firefighters use a raft to transport a horse after rescuing it from a roof, where it was trapped for days amid flooding, after heavy rain in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Wesley Santos)
