analysis
MeToo allegations
Is Green Party politician Terry Reintke stumbling over the Gallée case?
Terry Reintke is the EU parliamentary group leader and the Green Party’s top candidate for the European elections
© Dwi Anoraganingrum/Panama Pictures / Imago Images
Terry Reintke, co-leader of the Green Party in the European Parliament, goes diving after the star made public harassment allegations against one of her MPs. But the pressure is increasing.
A winner enters the hall. Walking in a red dress Terry Reintke walks down the aisle in the Karlsruhe exhibition hall at the end of November. At the Green party conference, the delegates elected her as the top candidate for the European elections with 95 percent of the votes. Reintke beams as he accepts the nomination.
Actually, things are already simmering among the European Greens. Malte Gallée, a young member of the parliamentary group that Reintke chairs, was originally also supposed to run in the EU elections. But suddenly his name disappears from the list. The official reason given in November was: “personal reasons”. The actual reason may have been allegations of sexual harassment against the 30-year-old. Several employees and interns accuse him of, among other things, cross-border behavior and unwanted touching. He has that star now made public. Gallée resigned on Friday but denied the allegations.
Now events could also catch up with Reintke. These are delicate days for the 36-year-old because the question arises as to whether she behaved correctly as parliamentary group leader in the case. Did she take the complaints about Gallée seriously enough? Should she have reacted differently?
Reintke used to be a spokeswoman for women’s politics
For the Greens, the allegations come at an inopportune time. The elections to the European Parliament will take place at the end of June. Reintke is not only the top candidate of the German Greens, but also leads the entire European Greens in the election campaign together with the Dutchman Bas Eickhout. At a time when right-wing parties can hope for significant gains, a strong leading candidate is needed. And not one who underestimated a case of sexual harassment within its own ranks and perhaps even wanted to cover it up. This is an accusation that is being made.
And then Reintke too. The Gelsenkirchen native has been sitting in the EU Parliament since 2014, where, among other things, she was the women’s policy spokesperson. When the case of Hollywood mogul and now convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein triggered the global Me Too movement in autumn 2017, the politician spoke publicly in the EU Parliament that she had been sexually harassed.
In interviews she said sentences like: “If women are victims of sexual harassment, then it must be investigated.” And: “This culture of silence that exists to some extent must be broken.” She also said: “There needs to be sensible mechanisms that not only protect the victims, but also provide consequences for perpetrators.” It was Reintke who then created the hashtag #MeTooEU and launched an accompanying petition – demanding that the EU institutions take concrete measures against cases of harassment.
Reintke is said to have rejected an investigation by external experts
Did the Green Party politician turn a blind eye when she was in charge? The star-Research shows: from spring 2022 at the latest, several employees and interns complained about Gallée to the ombudspersons of the group in the European Parliament. At the time, Reintke was one of seven deputy group leaders; in October 2022 she was elected one of the two group leaders. As such, their job would be to initiate investigations or impose sanctions – because the ombudspersons cannot do that.
The Green Party’s federal office is said to have put pressure on Reintke’s office in October 2022 to investigate the rumors about Gallée. This is what a person who is familiar with the events reports. This also emerges from internal documents. There was an informal investigation. According to information from star The investigation confirmed the allegations that women had made against Gallée. These include sexual harassment, unwanted touching on the bottom and hips and that Gallée cuddled up to women from behind.
Reintke and Rasmus Andresen, spokesman for the German Greens in the EU Parliament, are said to have rejected a formal investigation by an external expert. Why? Reintke and the green group still owe this answer. The Green parliamentary group was actually the only party to have set up a procedure for exactly such cases in 2019. According to the rules of procedure, which star is present, the deputy general secretary of the parliamentary group and the executives must “take measures to prevent bullying or sexual harassment”. star-According to research, that probably didn’t happen.
Open letter speaks of “obvious cover-up”
Reintke is said to have said several times that one cannot act on mere rumors. Those affected perceive it this way: Of all people, they couldn’t rely on them. It was obviously clear to the Greens-European group that the case could get tricky: After starInformation was already available at small crisis meetings in the fall of 2023 about how the parliamentary group should communicate in the event of possible reporting on Gallée. Reintke is said to have been present at some meetings, according to several people familiar with the events. Her office is also said to have made efforts to find out which employees and assistants were speaking to the press.
In response to specific questions about the behavior of Reintke and the party leadership in Brussels star no answers. The offices of Reintke and the Green Party in Brussels refer to the confidentiality of ombudsman procedures or generally write that the Green Party does not tolerate “harassment or inappropriate behavior of any kind.” Reintke declined a request for an interview.
However, the pressure is increasing: employees of the European Greens have written an open letter in which they make allegations against the management staff. “We have heard again and again that the fight against harassment within and outside of our group is an absolute priority,” it says. But the reality shows that the leadership did nothing when the victims asked for help. “The harassment allegations – and even more shockingly – the apparent cover-up is not only unpleasant but shocking.”