“There’s a bang here”: After the asylum deal, the Greens attack each other

No sooner had the EU interior ministers sealed the unification of their states in Luxembourg with applause than the dual leaders of the Green Party and the parliamentary group leadership spoke up, each with two different assessments. After the green as part of the traffic light government SPD and FDP allowed the difficult European compromise to be reached, some of the management staff have publicly distanced themselves from it – a remarkable process.

Green tip is at odds

After the obviously painful decision, leading Greens tried to communicate together, albeit not uniformly. Co-leader Omid Nouripour responded with a series of tweets weighing up the pros and cons, stating: “Overall, I conclude that today’s approval is a necessary step to in Europa to move forward together.”

Fellow party leader Ricarda Lang expressed similar differences, but with the result that “Germany should not have agreed to the proposal for the CEAS reform in the Council today.” CEAS stands for Common European Asylum System. The faction leaders Britta Haßelmann (for) and Katharina Dröge (against) thought the same.

In a letter to Greens members, Baerbock apologizes for the deal

According to the “Bild“-Zeitung, Baerbock sent a five-page letter to the Greens members just hours after the deal. The “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung“ also reports on the letter, but writes that it only goes to the members of the parliamentary group, not the entire party.

Baerbock writes that her approval in the federal cabinet was “very difficult”. The minister continued: “The compromise that has now been reached is by no means easy. Part of being honest is that if we as the federal government could have decided on the reform on our own, then it would look different.”

For Baerbock, however, it is also clear: “The status quo will improve for many refugees, even if not all of the concerns that we had campaigned for are reflected in the agreement.”

Habeck also defended the deal. “I have great respect for those who come to different assessments for humanitarian reasons,” said the Minister of Economic Affairs of the German Press Agency. “I hope they also see that there are reasons to recognize this result.” A hope that he was not the only one to express that evening. In the first few statements, approval came from representatives of the Realo wing, rejection from the left-wing Greens.

“There’s a bang here,” says the Greens crisis meeting

Baerbock, while traveling in Colombia, spontaneously canceled part of her visit program in order to promote the compromise in a series of video broadcasts to her party and the Green Group.

An SMS shows how tense the mood among the Greens is: “There’s a bang here,” quotes the ” Spiegel ” from a message from a high-ranking participant of the switch. Cansin Köktürk, member of the Greens from North Rhine-Westphalia, packs all her anger into a tweet: “If the Greens support and enforce the planned asylum reform, I will no longer represent that shit.”

“It’s shameful,” complain the Green MEPs

Massive criticism also came from members of the European Parliament of the Greens. “The EU member states have lost their moral compass,” complained the spokesman for the German Greens in the European Parliament, Rasmus Andresen. “It is shameful that the German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, with the approval of the traffic light coalition, also approved this proposal.”

The agreement of the EU interior ministers has too high a price. The good news is that this agreement is not yet law. The group leader of the Greens in the European Parliament, Terry Reintke, complained: “The Council’s position contradicts European values ​​such as fundamental rights and respect for the rule of law.” The group rejects the Council’s decision.

Green youth: “It’s inhumane”, “I’m stunned”

The management duo of the youth organization Green Youth, Timon Dzienus and Sarah-Lee Heinrich, said they were downright shocked. Dzienus wrote about the compromise on twitter: “It’s inhuman and I won’t accept it like that”. Heinrich wrote: “I am stunned. Foreclosure does not ensure that fewer people flee. It means that more people are suffering.” Hundreds of Greens had recently warned of the asylum plans in a letter to top representatives of their party.