Dusseldorf. After three electoral defeats, the board of the Green Party and the Green Youth are resigning. Is the crisis also being felt in Düsseldorf? We asked.
After several election defeats for the Greens, the party leadership is withdrawing. The federal executive board of the Green Youth is resigning completely in favor of a new project. How much of the party’s “crisis” are the Greens feeling in Düsseldorf?
The federal trend is also having an impact in Düsseldorf
She wouldn’t see the fact that the party is in crisis that way, says councilwoman and district mayor (district 1) Annette Klinke. “We are experiencing ups and downs.” Although she admits that she might see things differently if she were a federal politician. In the European elections, for example, the Greens achieved good results in their district (Altstadt, Carlstadt, Derendorf, Golzheim, Pempelfort and Stadtmitte), she emphasizes. Behind this, she also sees that her party is working successfully with its cooperation partner, the CDU, at the local level – although of course there are also challenges at the local level. Overall, the Greens also lost significantly in the European elections in Düsseldorf. “Of course we are not free from the federal trend,” comments Klinke.
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This will also play a major role in next year’s local elections, which are scheduled to take place on September 14, 2025 – probably two weeks before the federal election. She doesn’t know whether the coalition will hold in the federal government until then or what else will happen. The Düsseldorf Greens will go into the local elections “at least not as scared bunnies,” she says. Klinke also praises the fact that there is a good “firewall” against the right in Düsseldorf – something that she would like to see more of in Bavaria, for example.
“This is certainly a crisis,” says Stephan Engstfeld, Düsseldorf’s Green Party representative in the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament. The Greens have not only had to accept vote losses in the East, he emphasizes. Engstfeld sees the resignation of the party executive as a “correct and consistent step”, which, according to the politician, clears the way for the outgoing executive board members for a “new start”.
In Düsseldorf and North Rhine-Westphalia the situation of his party is not as critical. This is due to the successful cooperation between the Greens and the CDU, both in the state government and in the city council – even if there are a few differences of opinion. “We are not experiencing a decline in membership in North Rhine-Westphalia and Düsseldorf, but are still experiencing an increase in membership,” emphasizes Engstfeld.
“I respect the party executive’s step,” explains Düsseldorf district association spokesman Christian Fritsch. On the other hand, he doesn’t think the departure of the board of the Green Youth to set up a “competitive event” is a good thing. But: “The situation is completely different in Düsseldorf,” he reports. In a conversation with the district association on Wednesday, the Düsseldorf Green Youth assured that they felt comfortable in the party and wanted to continue to remain members of the Greens.
“We have to hold up the green flag more against this”
“You can’t talk about a crisis in Düsseldorf,” says Fritsch. In the NRW state capital, his party continues to do a good job of positioning its core issues, says Fritsch. As far as the response from the population is concerned, he continues to see a lot of support. However, he also refers to the physical attack on a Green campaign worker during the European election campaign. Unfortunately, there was also a certain amount of “brutality” in the state capital.
Dietmar Wolf, Green councilor and district mayor in district 3, sees a crisis not only among the Greens – and points to the AfD’s recent strong election results. “You could say: Germany has a crisis.” In Düsseldorf, where the party also lost votes in the European elections, his party could continue to score points with citizens with its issues.
“The Green Wolf” still sees many challenges in the time until the next local elections. Among them: The AfD spends many times more on social media content than all other parties combined, says Wolf. “We have to hold up the green flag more against this,” he says. His party needs to be much more present on social media with its content in the future.
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“I don’t think we have a personnel crisis,” says Green Councilor Lukas Mielczarek. It is not the case that the party is now “flying apart”. Here he emphasizes that the resignation of the Green Youth Federal Executive Board is not directly related to the resignation of the party executive board. Mielczarek, at 24 the youngest Green Party councilor in Düsseldorf, does not find the former sensible.
Councilor emphasizes the importance of the outskirts
The term “crisis” goes a bit too far for the current situation. “After the past election results, it is logical to now carry out this personnel renewal at the party leadership.” The last election in which the Greens achieved a positive result was the North Rhine-Westphalia state election in 2022, he notes. Mielczarek is confident that there is a plan at the top of his party on how to reposition itself.
“We lost votes in Düsseldorf in the European elections. But what became apparent was that the loss of votes in the outer districts was much greater than in the inner city.” Mielczarek therefore thinks that the outer districts should be given special attention in the next local elections. He himself is trying to work against this development through his work in district 6 (Lichtenbroich, Unterrath, Rath and Mörsenbroich).
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