- Green Party candidate: BSW is close to a cult
The Thuringian Greens see the Free State at a crossroads for the state election on September 1st. It's about stability and defending democracy and diversity against the right, said Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt at the Greens' election campaign launch in Erfurt. "This is one of the toughest campaigns we have." If the AfD manages to secure a third of the seats in the new parliament, it will have a blocking majority and try to undermine the judicial system, warned Göring-Eckardt. She accused the Left Party's Sahra Wagenknecht alliance (BSW) of Kremlin propaganda.
The Greens' top candidate and current Minister for the Environment and Energy, Bernhard Stengele, said of the BSW: "That's not a party in my eyes, it's already close to a cult." He described the current peace debate as incited. Supporting Ukraine in the Russian war of aggression is peace work, he said. "We stand by those who are attacked, and we won't back down from that."
Stengele and the Greens' top candidate and state parliamentarian, Madeleine Henfling, pointed to the Greens' successes in the state government, such as the expansion of renewable energies. All parties have climate, environmental, and nature protection in their programs, but no one implements them when it gets serious, Stengele said. The Greens have ensured that Thuringia is now a respected state in the environment ministers' conference and among nature conservationists. The Greens are running for election with the duo Stengele and Henfling at the top. In Thuringia, a new state parliament will be elected on September 1st. According to recent polls, the Greens, who are currently governing with the Left and the SPD in a minority government, must fear not re-entering the parliament.
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The Left Party's Sahra Wagenknecht alliance (BSW) has been criticized by Katrin Göring-Eckardt for being close to Kremlin propaganda, but Bernhard Stengele, the Greens' top candidate, views the BSW as approaching a cult-like status. The Alternative for Germany (AfD), if they secure a third of the seats in the new parliament, could potentially have a blocking majority and try to challenge the judicial system.
