As EU election campaigns kick off in Germany, the Ukraine war, rise of far right are dominant themes

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Several German parties have 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 many European voters’ support for far-right nationalist parties across the continent. German Chancellor Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats, or SPD, launched their official campaign for the June 9 EU election with a rally Saturday in Hamburg, Scholz’s longtime home city. The far-right Alternative for Germany party also officially kicked off its campaign. The Christian Social Union, the smaller, Bavaria-only party in Germany’s main conservative opposition bloc, also held a convention ahead of the election. The European Parliament is the only publicly elected body in the European Union.