Have the article read by OpenAI (Beta). Please note that AI translations may take some time to process.Brussels (dpa) – German lawmaker Katarina Barley of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the European Parliament welcomed the Labour Party’s election victory in the United Kingdom, stating that it gives hope to the European Union.
Barley was one of the vice-presidents of the European Parliament in the last legislative period and the German Social Democratic Party’s (SPD) top candidate in the European elections in June.
“I am pleased that, after years of tension, a Labour prime minister in London will now have the opportunity to strike a more friendly and constructive tone,” Barley told dpa. The leader of the Labour Party, likely to become prime minister, is Keir Starmer.
Barley, who has a British father, added that after 14 years of conservative government, including Brexit, the EU and the UK had become alienated from each other.
“A rapid re-entry of the UK into the EU remains very unlikely,” said Barley, adding that the UK, however, is an important strategic partner of the European Union. “Both a Labour government and the EU are interested in a new geopolitical partnership.”
Germany’s governing SPD party, of which Barley is a member, and the British Labour Party have close ties.
The pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), the junior partner in Germany’s three-party coalition, expects a significant improvement in German-British relations following the UK’s election results, the party’s foreign policy spokesman Ulrich Lechte said on Thursday. (5 July)
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