of Green Party’s four-day party conference in Karlsruhe It was intense. Never before has so many people gathered at a convention organized by Germany’s Environmental Party – this year 4,000 people, including journalists, attended.
Despite the large number of people, the conference room was unusually quiet. The foyer, usually crowded with people passionately discussing the latest issues, was relatively calm.
This is probably not surprising. From Russia’s war against Ukraine and Israel’s war against Hamas to inflation, high energy costs and social polarization. Germany, antisemitism and hostility towards immigrantsfaces many crises. green party A high degree of concentration is required both at home and abroad.
Any of these topics could single-handedly dominate the entire party conference. This year all of these will be discussed at the same time.
In addition to these, German budget issuesthe coalition government made up of the Green Party, the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the neoliberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) is in similar danger.
representative green politician Robert Habeck, Germany’s deputy chancellor and economy minister, has been particularly affected by the financial crisis. Germany will decide what direction it will take now that the Constitutional Court has vetoed the government’s plan to use 60 billion euros (about $65 billion) in reallocated coronavirus funds to fight climate change. He is the one who has to be there.
At the party convention, Deputy Prime Minister Habeck was on the defensive. But that’s not where he wants to stay.
“CDU: Yesterday’s Party”
Habeck said countries around the world are investing in a sustainable future, noting that the United States alone has allocated what he called an astronomical amount of $400 billion. But in Germany, the opposition wants the government to bail out.
After all, it was a conservative opposition bloc. Christian Democratic Party and the Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), which launched a lawsuit that led to the overturning of the government’s climate finance plans.
Habeck said the “debt brake” enshrined in the Basic Law is no longer appropriate. He explained that unless the government supports German companies to invest in their future, Germany will fall behind given the intensity of competition.
“We are now going to step into the boxing ring with a ‘debt brake’ tied behind our backs,” he warned on Friday. He said the CDU/CSU’s proposal to leave regulation to the market was out of step with the times. Referring to CDU and its leader Friedrich Merz“This is yesterday’s party led by the chairman from the day before yesterday,” he said.
The “debt brake” is no longer appropriate
Habaek’s voice became louder and louder as he spoke. After his speech, the 825 participants gave him a long round of applause.
Habeck said he was in favor of changing the law, which has been in place since 2009, to tie caps on new debt to economic performance. “Debt Brake” It is believed that the main areas of the budget, i.e. those that are beneficial for the current fiscal year, should be maintained, but that investments for the future should not be included.
Immediately after Herbeck’s speech, economist Jens Zudekum from the University of Düsseldorf also joined via video link and said: “The ideology of the debt brake has won a landslide victory in Karlsruhe.”he suggested that I should hit the brakes Suspended not only in 2023 But also in 2024.
Franziska Brantner, Parliamentary Secretary at the Economy Ministry, told DW that if this does not happen, even SPD- and FDP-led ministries will be affected by the pressure to save.
“Right now, we’re missing double-digit billions for rail upgrades, and we’re missing funding for gyms and day care centers,” Brantner said, adding that funding is lacking almost everywhere. Ta.
The Middle East is a big topic
Next came the middle east. Since Israel declared war on the Islamic extremist group Hamas, German Foreign Minister Annalena Verbock has visited the region several times.. Her voice almost trembled as she recounted her conversation with an Israeli man whose wife and child had been abducted and held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. She said Hamas “reactivated the trauma of the Shoah” with its attack.
Hamas, listed as a terrorist organization by many countries including Germany, massacred about 1,200 people in the October 7 attack.
bear bock He also spoke about conversations he had with Palestinian families whose loved ones died in Gaza as a result of Israeli counterattacks.
She clarified that “anti-Semitic hatred and incitement are not opinions.”
Later, Hanna Weiler, president of the German Union of Jewish Students, spoke at a party meeting. “We haven’t been the same since Oct. 7,” Baylor said. “Everything that is happening in Israel has an impact on the global diaspora. We now have to hide our identities. [Jewish] Students no longer have the courage to go to university. ”
Her words were followed by a heavy silence.
Party base supports leaders
The current crisis is so discouraging that even the party base, which tends to be rebellious, is doing everything in its power to support leaders and ministers. Only a small number of delegates voiced criticism of the Green Party’s actions as part of the coalition government. “We have compromised and the FDP, which is much smaller than us, is getting what it wants,” exclaimed one delegate from Hamburg.
There was also a sense that the Greens were bearing the brunt of the public’s uncertainty. Leipzig delegate Stanislav Ellingson even admitted to DW that this sentiment was partially justified, saying: “We must not only criticize others, but also question ourselves. No,” he said. “We must not be too radical…I think we also need to change course.”
The Green Party has been particularly dissatisfied with the government’s climate policies, with its support among voters falling to its lowest level in more than five years, a poll showed on Sunday.
This article was originally written in German.