Party conference in Potsdam: “Green before blue”: Greens want to beat AfD in European elections

The Greens want to put the AfD in its place in the European elections on June 9. “Democrats before fascists, green before blue” – this was the slogan given by the Greens’ political director, Emily Büning, at a small party conference in Potsdam. “These elections are about nothing less than protecting our democracy,” said Büning. “It’s about the question of whether we can manage to put the right-wing extremist forces in this country in their place.”

Some polls for the European elections put the Greens and the AfD roughly on a par at 14 or 15 percent, while others recently saw the AfD at an advantage.

Reintke: No cooperation with rights

Lead candidate Terry Reintke promised: “We as the Greens will oppose this shift to the right with everything we have. And under no circumstances will we work with right-wing extremists in the next European Parliament.” She demanded the same from the Union and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The current President of the European Commission has shown herself open to working with the ultra-right party of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. One reason for this is that she could be dependent on votes from Meloni’s party for re-election by the European Parliament. Von der Leyen is the top candidate of the Christian Democratic party family EPP, which also includes the CDU and CSU. “Nationalists and post-fascists are not coalition partners,” stressed Büning.

Nouripour on AfD: In the pockets of dictators

Party leader Omid Nouripour warned against dependence on dictatorships when it comes to importing fossil fuels and sharply attacked the AfD: “When I talk about dependence, about dictators, I don’t mean the AfD, because they are not dependent – they are in their pockets.” The AfD’s top candidate for the European elections, Maximilian Krah, and the AfD member of the Bundestag, Petr Bystron, are in the headlines because of possible connections to pro-Russian networks.

In his speech, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck blamed the CDU/CSU for Germany’s recent economic problems. “Friedrich Merz, the Union is responsible for the worst economic crisis in decades,” he said. Germany should never have become dependent on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s gas.

Baerbock can imagine participation in Gaza protection force

Several speakers, including Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, recalled what Germany owes to the EU. A resolution from the party conference states: “The united Europe has secured democracy where injustice and oppression prevailed.” The EU gives hope to people who are fighting for democracy today in Ukraine, Georgia or Bosnia. “The AfD and its ilk want to destroy this dream.”

In her speech, Baerbock also brought up the possibility of German participation in a protection force for the Gaza Strip. “Just as we made it clear to Ukraine that we stand for their freedom and their peace, for me this also applies to the Middle East. If we now need not only reconstruction, but an international protection force that guarantees that we finally, finally achieve peace in the Middle East, then that is also our common mission,” she said.

Warning against narrow perspective

Dresden local politician Anne-Katrin Haubold reported on the attack on another campaign worker in Dresden at the beginning of May, which she was present at. The perpetrators kicked her party colleague while he was lying on the ground. After that, she received overwhelming support.

Haubold warned her own party against a narrow perspective. “We must not only make a program for our core clientele in the well-off green zones in the big cities, but we must also make a clear offer to those who live in the countryside and are particularly concerned about climate change, but also hostility to democracy.”