MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A survey by the Forsa pollster for the German magazine Stern and television channel RTL revealed the center-left party improved its standing by five percentage points since last week to 31 percent.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), lost one percentage point to poll at 34 percent.
The same survey found Schulz and Merkel were tied in their race for German chancellorship, with 37 percent of respondents ready to support either candidate.
Schulz took over the SPD in January after stepping down as European Parliament president to run in Germany’s parliamentary election this fall. His Socialist rival and SPD’s ex-chief Sigmar Gabriel bowed out of the race to become the Foreign Minister.
