Ukraine War: The Transformation of the Greens

The outbreak of war took the party, which was actually used to grassroots democratic processes, by surprise. So far there has been no time for party conferences or member votes. Now the goal is to gather the base with a broad majority for the motion behind the chosen course.

“As the governing party, we assume responsibility,” the motion continues. That is why the Greens support “the continuation and, where possible, acceleration of the delivery of necessary equipment to Ukraine”, including heavy weapons. It is important “to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities beyond the next few months.”

Before the Ukraine war, the principle in Germany was that no weapons should be handed over to crisis areas. This was always the case for the Greens, who are anchored in the peace movement. Which party congress of the Greens would have backed this policy a few years ago? But that is exactly what is to be expected on this Saturday in April 2022.

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There is little headwind. Former Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer had to be insulted as a warmonger in 1999 because of the Bundeswehr’s mission in Kosovo. At a party conference, members threw a paint bag at him.

More than twenty years later there is no audible argument about the right course. On the contrary. The Greens pretend to be pacesetters in Ukraine policy, together with the FDP they are driving the SPD ahead of them – and think the base is behind them.

Top Greens like Ministers Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock and party leaders Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour ignore the headlines that the Greens are now going through a painful rendezvous with reality. It is said that the Greens have long since arrived in reality.

The image of a pacifist eco-party is increasingly being replaced by pragmatic realpolitik. “We act in situations where the world has changed completely, so we ask: What is the responsibility towards the people in our country, but also towards our European friends and neighbors and the civilian population?” said the former party leader Baerbock recently Bundestag, and she added: “If we have the opportunity to prevent genocide, then we will do everything for it, even if it was not previously in the green party program.”

Everyday government requires unpleasant decisions

In fact, the party has been preparing its members for years that the day-to-day running of government may require unpleasant decisions. The speed limit was such a compromise.

In the election campaign they were in favor of a speed limit, but they were unable to push through in the coalition negotiations. The fuel discount generously provided for in the relief package was another concession that the ruling Greens expected of their base.

At least in the debate about heavy weapons, the party is largely united. In a survey a few days ago, 72 percent of Greens voters were in favor of it – more than in any other German party.

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The loudest advocate in the past few weeks was, of all people, the old leftist Anton Hofreiter, who did not shy away from criticizing the hesitant course of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). That was not well received by all Greens.

Especially in the party leadership there is a lack of understanding about the “self-promoter Toni”. But there is little enthusiasm in the group either. The government is doing a good job – and criticizing it in this way in order to stand out fuels unnecessary anger among the population, they say.

In the matter, however, Hofreiter demanded nothing other than Lang, Nouripour, Baerbock and Habeck. The international peace order is in danger with the war of aggression against Ukraine. Defending them also requires the use of weapons, they say unanimously.

“We stand in solidarity with Ukraine,” Baerbock said on Wednesday. According to international law, this is not an entry into a war, because it supports Ukraine’s right to self-defense enshrined in the United Nations Charter.

Limits of military enthusiasm

However, the military enthusiasm of the Greens has its limits, which is evident in the debate about the 100 billion euro special fund for the Bundeswehr. The party leadership’s application states: “We support the 100 billion special fund to strengthen Germany’s alliance and defense capabilities”.

For the Greens, however, this includes a speedy evaluation and reform of the procurement system of the Bundeswehr, a deepening of European cooperation, also in procurement and armaments cooperation, and a needs-based determination of necessary military expenditure.

The state council should also clarify how the additional military spending can be reconciled with the new situation. Finally, during the election campaign, the party campaigned for disarmament instead of rearmament.

The Green Youth called for the rejection of the planned special fund. “We think it’s the wrong way to suggest security with large sums of money instead of talking about necessary needs,” Green Youth Federal Spokesman Timon Dzienus told the “Rheinische Post”. He called for a reform of the procurement system and a needs-based determination of necessary military expenditure “before additional funds flow into the Bundeswehr”.

The Greens continue to reject anchoring the NATO quota of two percent of gross domestic product for defense spending promised by previous governments. Fixed quotas apart from the needs of the Bundeswehr, a lack of efficient procurement structures and a lack of European cooperation do not mean more security, it is said.

The question remains to what extent the Greens manage, in addition to all the defense and security policy issues, to give the fight against global warming the necessary political attention without their supporters suspecting treason.

More: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report: What needs to be done to prevent irreversible habitat destruction.