Right at the front, in the front row, they put their heads together and laugh as if there had never been happier days. First Annalena Baerbock greets her Robert as if they were the best of friends. Then Robert Habeck beckons into the hall, chattering here, joking there, seems clearly happy. Reality? Apparently can wait.
World Conference Center in Bonn on Friday, the Greens came together for the party conference at a time that was sometimes called “hard”, sometimes “crass” that evening. Governing in alliance with the SPD and the Liberals should actually be a departure. The Greens wanted to be the engine of social change, to promote ecological and social transformation, as it was said. But now there is war in Europe, Germany is facing the worst economic crisis in its history, there is a lack of gas, innovation and confidence. And Berlin is ruled by a political trio that seems to have seen better days before they even began.
However, the Greens have apparently decided at the party conference in Bonn to remove everything that might look like disappointment from the field of vision. “We are the ones who provide leadership when leadership is ordered,” says Federal Political Secretary Emily Büning when things get started. “We said yes to responsibility,” says Economics Minister Robert Habeck. And party leader Ricarda Lang speaks of the “winter of solidarity” that is coming. As if the country is well on its way to a heartwarming time.
The party congress is overshadowed by a bitter dispute between the FDP and the Greens in Berlin
It is doubtful whether the atmosphere in the hall is as good as promised by the party leaders. The Green Party Congress may decide what it likes, but it is overshadowed by bitter clashes between the FDP and the Greens in Berlin. When it comes to nuclear power, an ice wind is blowing from the capital in the direction of Bonn, so to speak, at least it feels like it.
FDP leader Christian Lindner wants to keep the last three nuclear reactors in Germany running until 2024 instead of shutting them down at the end of the year as planned in order to alleviate the energy shortage in winter. The Greens, who no longer want to invest in the “high-risk technology” of nuclear power and reject new nuclear waste, also reject an extension of the service life and the purchase of new fuel rods. In the face of war and energy shortages, however, they made compromises. At least that’s how they see it. In order to keep the southern German power grid stable in winter, two of the three remaining German nuclear power plants are to serve as reserves.
“For the extreme emergency, however improbable it may be,” continued operation would be conceivable – that’s what the green national executive committee says in the motion that will be voted on at the party conference. In the event of a concrete emergency, the two southern German nuclear power plants Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 should be able to continue operating until the spring “without new fuel elements”. Hardly anyone now believes that this emergency will not occur. However, the Greens reject a return to nuclear power. The same applies to the continued operation of the nuclear power plant in Emsland, Lower Saxony, which is to be “finally shut down and dismantled” at the end of the year.
Only whether it will happen as decided by the party congress is by no means as certain as green party congress speakers would like us to believe. In Berlin, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been struggling for days to reach a compromise between the Greens and the FDP on the nuclear issue. He has not been found so far, the fronts are hardened. And Habeck isn’t just breathing down the necks of Lindner and Scholz. In Bonn, too, he gets objections, although not too many.
For example, there is Karl-Wilhelm Koch, a rebellious party senior from the Vulkaneifel, the man is a legend among the Greens. Koch leads a group of delegates who reject any stretching operation and want to push through the complete phase-out of nuclear power by the end of the year. Who can guarantee the party that after the broken promise to phase out nuclear power by the end of the year, the next step will not be to revoke the promise to finally end the last nuclear reactors in April? “It stays at December 31, we stand by our word,” says Koch. “And there is no compulsion to change that.”
Most delegates plead for the stretching operation
Not a single speaker will side with Koch. Most delegates plead for the stretching operation if it is absolutely necessary, i.e. for the proposal of the federal executive board. And instead of mutual insults, reports on green soul distress are exchanged at the party congress. “What the federal board has presented is an impertinence, even for me personally,” says Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke. It was “extremely difficult” for her to agree. Lemke warns that the periodic safety reviews of nuclear power plants cannot be postponed again and again. Safety is “not a salami sausage that you can cut off slice by slice”. Nevertheless, if two southern German power plants could “make a small contribution”, then they should be able to run for a few more months, the minister believes.
When Habeck appears on stage, he first sends a little good-weather joke into the hall as a relaxation exercise. Then the tone suddenly becomes serious. “For many people, including me, the question of how people feel about nuclear power was a fundamental question as to why we ended up in this party,” he says. Objections are not trivialized, that is to say. Then comes the but. If as much French nuclear power is lost as feared, “a stressful situation could arise,” says the climate protection minister. Therefore, the stretching operation must be enabled. However, anyone who advises the Greens to return to nuclear power now is on the wrong track: “That won’t happen.”
What is missing from Habeck’s speech is any indication as to whether he can and wants to offer any compromises in the dispute over nuclear power with the FDP in Berlin. Not a word about the shutdown of the Emsland nuclear power plant in Lower Saxony – some things are left in the dark. Better safe than sorry.
Trittin is Habeck’s toughest critic on nuclear issues. But he refrains from a showdown at the party conference.
It is then the opponent of nuclear power, Jürgen Trittin, who carries the debate at the party conference to the finish line – to the yes for the motion of the party leadership. Trittin is Habeck’s toughest critic on nuclear issues in the Bundestag. But he refrains from a showdown at the party conference. He left it at a few additions, which he negotiated into the text of the Federal Executive. It now says that the Greens “will not agree to any legislation in the Bundestag” that would allow new fuel elements or new enriched uranium to be procured. However, the passage is formulated so clumsily that one can conclude everything or nothing from it. The energy supply is secure in Germany, says Trittin, “but there are problems in certain regions.” So it’s wise to say: “We have a belt on and we have braces, we’ll also hang another pair of braces in the closet.” In the end, the party congress approved the party leadership’s motion – by a large majority. The noise is adjourned until further notice.