Friedrich Merz urges ‘independence’ from US – DW – 02/24/2025

No, Green Party leader Felix Banaszak doesn’t have time for an interview in front of the DW camera right now.

But then he stops briefly and speaks with DW — he doesn’t want to give a grade for his party’s election result: “We have been in a very difficult government, the most unpopular this country has ever had. We worked our way out of the slump after the summer, but not as far as we wanted.”

“But in the end, it is a sign that many people in this country want politics in which climate protection plays a role, with which Germany remains an open country and in which there is justice,” he said.

The Greens are projected to net 11.7% of the vote, down three points from 2021’s election, after which they entered into coalition as a junior partner alongside outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD and the pro-business FDP.

The coalition government suffered from regular public squabbles and ultimately fell apart in November after Scholz dismissed former Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the FDP.

Like many here at the Greens’ election party, the 35-year-old party leader, who has only been at the helm since last November, feels that it is unlikely the Greens will be needed to form a government under Friedrich Merz of the CDU, who is the most probable candidate to become Germany’s next chancellor.

But Banaszak does not want to give up hope: “If there is a constellation in which the Greens are needed, then we will enter the negotiations with confidence.”

Banaszak’s conclusion of the short election campaign is rather sobering: “The election campaign was somewhat detached from reality in parts. Germany and Europe find themselves in a completely new situation.” In other words, not being able to govern now hurts.

Banaszak argued that the CDU bringing a motion on migration through the Bundestag with the help of votes from the far-right AfD probably also ultimately scared off some potential Green voters.

“Many people who could imagine voting for the Greens apparently found the idea that Friedrich Merz would become chancellor quite terrible,” he said.