What has changed in the Greens is already evident when entering the party conference in the Berlin Velodrom. The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has ordered a security check of all persons. Anyone who has not sent their data in advance will be checked in the entrance hall of the Berlin Velodrom.
BKA employees are also swarming in the cycling hall, which serves as the backdrop for the broadcasting center of the digital party congress. Behind the stage there is a car with the engine running and wherever the two outgoing party leaders Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock walk to in the hall, the security guards are already a few meters away.
It is the first federal delegates’ conference of the Greens since entering the traffic light government. And the role change is not only evident in the bodyguards of the Green Ministers. “We’re no longer a small party,” says Michael Kellner, who is also leaving the Federal Managing Director, in greeting.
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They have taken the step to become a medium-sized party and now, after 16 years in the opposition, have a new task. “We are now measured by how we change reality,” says Kellner.
This task falls primarily to Economics Minister Habeck and Foreign Minister Baerbock, who will be bid farewell by the party on the first evening of the two-day party conference. The two party leaders have not had much to say to each other in recent months. The harmony that was on display at the beginning of her tenure has been gone since Baerbock’s candidacy for chancellor, which Habeck had also wished for.
On Friday in the velodrome, the two will try to perform as a team one last time. A joint speech was announced, but after a short joint greeting, first Habeck and then Baerbock gave their speeches.
Habeck and Baerbock in new roles
Here, too, the change of roles becomes clear. Habeck speaks as Economics Minister, addresses the rising energy prices, the taxonomy dispute and the abrupt end of the KfW funding programs for energy-efficient building construction, which his ministry stopped at the weekend because the budget had been exceeded. “This program has gotten completely out of hand,” says Habeck, explaining that instead of the estimated five billion euros, 14 billion euros would have been called up.
Baerbock also appears as Foreign Minister and speaks about the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia. “We stand with Ukraine on security issues, on defense, but above all on economic stability,” she says. The conflict makes it clear that the purpose of politics is to create a life in security and peace.
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However, Habeck and Baerbock brought their party a common message. If you want to change something, you sometimes have to jump over your own shadow, says Baerbock: “I’m really happy to live in a country where the principle of ‘the winner takes it all’ doesn’t exist.”
Habeck becomes even clearer. “A party is not an end in itself. We were always strong when you thought about things from the point of view and not from the internal logic of the party.” The party is always just a means to an end, said the Vice Chancellor: “The purpose is to change reality.”
The Green Ministers promote compromises
It is a last wish from the two chairmen to their base. The Greens will have to accept compromises in government, such as taxonomy or foreign policy. The members should strengthen the Green Ministers’ backs.
“Yes, it is uncomfortable to be responsible for this decision politically,” says Habeck. But he became a minister in order to make decisions. Then it’s time to say goodbye. “Take care,” says Habeck. Music plays, lights flash, the few employees and guests stand up and applaud.
There is a relaxed atmosphere in the hall, which otherwise offers space for 12,000 spectators. Kellner jokes about the identically colored outfits worn by Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth and the parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, Britta Haßelmann, both of whom are sitting in the front row. Most of the speeches in the three-hour debate were also positive. The delegates stressed their satisfaction with the new ministers and formulated their expectations for the next four years.
The message from the other Green ministers is also to explain government responsibility to the grassroots. The challenges are huge, says the new Minister of Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, pointing to the extinction of species, poor animal husbandry and the difficult financial situation of farmers.
But Özdemir dampens hopes. “You can’t change everything,” he says, addressing a wish to the party. “There must be no division of labor with us now, in which one does and the other demands.”
Kretschmann: “We started as an alliance party and ended up as a milieu party”
Only one dampens the mood on this Friday evening. Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann renewed his criticism of the election campaign and called for a review. “I know that this is not a discipline that gets you employee of the month,” says the 73-year-old and then presents his own analysis of why the Greens only got 14.8 percent of the votes.
“We need to better balance our change message with security promises,” says Kretschmann. In addition, they made themselves too small in the election campaign and addressed the issues of the economy and jobs too little. During the election campaign, the Greens also forgot their claim of wanting to have an impact on society at large. “We started the election campaign as an alliance party and ended up as a milieu party,” says Kretschmann.
But there will probably no longer be an independent investigation into the election campaign. Late in the evening, around 800 delegates rejected a motion to set up a commission to deal with the mistakes made during the election campaign. “I am firmly convinced that the processing must not be lost,” said applicant Joachim Fuchs. Robert Habeck, who held the counter-speech, said: “A lot has to be analyzed, but we don’t need a commission for that.” The right body for this is the next federal executive board.
In the end, a narrow majority of delegates voted against the motion. Some support for Baerbock, Habeck and Kellner and the fulfillment of their wishes. The party has jumped over its shadow. Now the Green Ministers have to deliver and change reality.
