Apparently the Greens already had an idea of what was brewing. The EU states had only agreed minutes earlier on Wednesday afternoon on a crisis mechanism to curb illegal migration to Europe, when Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock already sent out her interpretation of the decision: “We fought hard and successfully in Brussels until the last minute that there will be no weakening of minimum humanitarian standards,” explained Baerbock. The improvements achieved were welcomed, said parliamentary group leader Britta Haßelmann a little later. The message from the Green Party leadership: They did what was possible. The result can now be seen.
But there are now considerable doubts about this within the party. For months now, a heated debate has been raging among the Greens about the right course of asylum policy in their own coalition. Particularly controversial was Wednesday’s approval of the European asylum reform, which large parts of the party consider to be inhumane. These days, however, it is becoming clear that the dissatisfaction of the Green base is no longer just directed against the coalition partners SPD and FDP. The Greens are now also angry at their own party leadership.
The party’s internal Federal Working Group on Migration and Flight made this public on Wednesday. They are “appalled” by the course of their own leadership, explained Svenja Borgschulte and Markus Schopp, the spokesperson and spokesman for the federal working group, in a joint statement South German newspaper is present.
One accusation is that the Greens are abandoning their humanitarian principles
The planned CEAS reform provides for a “historically unprecedented tightening of the asylum law applicable in the EU”. Contrary to the claims of the party’s own leadership, even those seeking protection from Syria and Afghanistan could in future be locked up in the planned closed camps at the external borders and deported to third countries outside the EU without examining their reasons for fleeing, it continues. This means the “abandonment of Green core positions”. The party leadership ignores party decisions and tries to “settle the base internally” with false allegations. The heads of the working group warn that the Greens are giving up their humanitarian principles, but this would not solve any problems.
The warnings range widely about how the dispute over migration policy will affect your own party. “At the grassroots level, sentiment is simmering,” the paper warns. “Many members contact us who are either incredulous about the course of our party leadership or, frustrated, are considering throwing in the towel and leaving.” The working group assumes that it speaks for many Greens. After all, tens of thousands of new members have joined the Greens since 2015 because they support refugees.
“Gist for the mill of right-wing governments in Europe”
The Green Youth also heavily criticized the agreement. The current understanding is “grist for the mill of right-wing governments in Europe,” said the co-head of the youth organization, Timon Dzienus. “Despite changes to the crisis regulation, the humanitarian situation for refugees continues to deteriorate.” He considers Germany’s consent “to this chaos regulation to be wrong. The individual right to asylum is thus further questioned throughout Europe,” said Dzienus.
Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck recently indicated a new course for the Greens in migration policy. The Green Economics Minister recently said in an interview that his party is ready to find pragmatic solutions in order to reduce the influx at the EU’s external borders. If the Greens wanted to further protect the right to asylum, then they would have to “accept reality and solve the concrete problems – even if it means making morally difficult decisions.” The Greens know that they have a responsibility, Habeck continued.