Martin Schulz

Martin Schulz (born 20 December 1955) is a German politician who was a <a href="/facts/Member_of_the_European_Parliament/rvxcGboD">Member of the European Parliament</a> (MEP) from <a href="/facts/Germany/paluuWBX">Germany</a> from 1994 to 2017 and a Member of the <a href="/facts/Bundestag/RN6CPKa2">Bundestag</a> (MdB) from 2017 to 2021. During his tenure he was Leader of the <a href="/facts/Progressive_Alliance_of_Socialists_and_Democrats/uaAN6RVJ">Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats</a> from 2004 to 2012, <a href="/facts/President_of_the_European_Parliament/QDs3D0Jn">President of the European Parliament</a> from 2012 to 2017 and <a href="/facts/Social_Democratic_Party_of_Germany/GyXlKgqJ">Leader of the Social Democratic Party</a> from 2017 to 2018.
In November 2016, Schulz announced he would not seek a third term as President of the European Parliament, but instead would <a href="/facts/2017_German_federal_election/4mwh3jlb">stand in 2017 as the SPD candidate</a> for the <a href="/facts/Chancellor_of_Germany/NHWTh4Tt">German Chancellorship</a>. In January 2017, <a href="/facts/Sigmar_Gabriel/kpbMI8eM">Sigmar Gabriel</a> announced he would not stand for re-election as party leader and as the SPD candidate for the German Chancellorship, Gabriel recommended Schulz as his replacement.
After the elections of September 2017, which resulted in a postwar low for the SPD, Schulz declared the end of the existing Grand coalition under <a href="/facts/Angela_Merkel/n7jjpybM">Angela Merkel</a> and explicitly refused to serve in a Merkel government. On 7 February 2018, coalition talks concluded and Schulz announced he would succeed Sigmar Gabriel as Foreign minister and leave his party chairmanship to <a href="/facts/Andrea_Nahles/0YckCu3y">Andrea Nahles</a>. After heavy public and internal criticism, Schulz decided not to enter the new cabinet. On 13 February 2018 Schulz stepped down as party chair.

Martin Schulz open-in-new

Martin Schulz