Party conference in Berlin
Are the Greens now making the same mistake again?
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The Green party conference in Berlin was actually supposed to be about the election program. But then it was mainly about Friedrich Merz.
“He was only two years old.” With these words, the chairman of the Green Party, Felix Banaszak, opened the party conference in Berlin on Sunday. “I don’t know his name.” He doesn’t know whether it is a Moroccan name or a German one. “But what I do know is that the pain is immeasurable.”
What happened four days ago in Aschaffenburg, where an Afghan asylum seeker attacked a group of kindergarten children with a knife, is not only changing things for the Green party conference, which is actually supposed to be about discussing and adopting the election program on Sunday. According to many Greens, the Union’s reaction to Aschaffenburg also threatens to fundamentally change something in this country.
The authoritarians are on the rise, democracy is at stake, that is a central message from the numerous speeches at the Green party conference. Not just because Trump is now president of the USA again and Putin is not giving up on wanting to annex a neighboring country. Especially because the Union is now taking a tough, uncompromising course in migration policy and could apparently accept majorities with the AfD. This causes irritation and even outrage among the Greens in the Berlin exhibition halls.
Green Party leader: “Mr. Merz, make it clear where the Union stands”
Friedrich Merz obviously wants to show toughness after Aschaffenburg and is calling for far-reaching changes in migration policy. The borders should be permanently controlled, asylum seekers should no longer be allowed to enter the country and those who have to leave the country should be taken into custody. He wants to submit a corresponding motion with the measures to the Bundestag next week – “regardless of who agrees to them,” said Merz. Is the firewall to the extreme right breaking here? The country has been discussing this in recent days.
The Greens are also concerned with what exactly Merz is aiming for with his initiative and what it means: Is it “almost hysteria”, “lack of impulse control” or “calculation”? The speakers are not entirely sure. In any case, the damage has been done, says party leader Banaszak. He calls on the opposition leader: “Mr. Merz, make it clear where you and where the Union stands.” The Union should not succumb to the temptation to follow the path of the FPÖ in Austria or the Republicans in the USA.
“Nothing about it is harmless,” states Chancellor candidate Robert Habeck. In Europe you can see “how things are slipping.” The Democrats must therefore be able to “unify” and there should be no announcements along the lines of: “Eat or die – agree with me, or I will vote with right-wing radicals,” says Habeck.
Are the Greens now repeating a mistake?
These are clear warnings to the political competitor – to come to his senses and not take this step. But the Greens seem strangely helpless because it remains unclear what the Greens actually want to counter this, apart from appeals for differentiation and calls for unity in society.
It could be that the Greens are repeating a mistake of the past in this migration election campaign, which it has now suddenly become: They are back to a tone that puts the danger of authoritarianism and the threat to democracy at the forefront. It is reminiscent of the campaign before the European Parliament election in 2024, when preventing the AfD was supposed to be a central argument for voting for the Greens.
The internal analysis following the election defeat had actually shown that standing up against “evil” was not enough to promote an election for the Greens. It must become clear what exactly you actually stand for. But there is little to be heard about this in the Greens’ speeches this Sunday.
Black-green is not excluded
After all, we’re not yet sure how evil the Union really is and what’s behind the latest maneuver: we have to ask whether it was “impulsive babbling,” says Habeck. “That would be bad, but it can be recovered.” After all, there is no one who doesn’t make mistakes. “If you want to correct that, then quickly.”
The Greens’ arm towards the Union remains outstretched, despite everything. Nobody wants to rule out a coalition with the Union after the election. The Greens don’t have much other choice. Black-green is their only realistic power option at the moment. And even though the traffic light failed miserably, they still want to govern.
Source: Stern

I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.