Dual leadership confirmed - NRW Greens want to prove reliability
The Greens in North Rhine-Westphalia are focusing on continuity after their poor performance in the European election and aim to regain trust with their previous party leadership. A party conference in Oberhausen confirmed the leadership duo of Yasmin Kayat and Tim Achtermeyer for another two years in office on Saturday. Three weeks after the European election, leading Green politicians admitted to the base that lessons needed to be learned from the disappointing result.
The 38-year-old Yasmin Kayat from Wuppertal was elected with 81.1% of the votes from around 260 delegates, while the 30-year-old Bonn Landtag member Achtermeyer received 88.5%. Kayat performed significantly worse than in her first election as co-state chair two years ago, when she received 92% of the votes. Achtermeyer, on the other hand, achieved a better result, having only received 82% of the votes in 2022. There were no counter-candidates.
Battle for Trust
The federal party will present the results of the election analysis before the parliamentary summer recess, said Green federal chairman Omid Nouripour in a guest speech. The Greens did not make it through the European election and needed to make their visions clearer in areas beyond climate and nature protection in the traffic light coalition. People wanted solutions for issues related to migration and inflation, and the Greens needed to be ready to listen and learn. "We will fight for that," Nouripour said, looking at the poor election result.
In the European election on June 9, the Greens in NRW performed ten points worse than in 2019, with only 13.5% of the votes. Nationwide, the party only managed to secure 11.9% of the votes. However, according to party statements, the NRW Greens gained around 500 new members since the election and now have over 27,000 members.
Deputy NRW Minister-President Mona Neubaur said that the Greens needed to regain lost trust. In the 2022 state election, the party had won trust beyond its narrow circle. The black-green state government had been working constructively in NRW for two years, emphasized the Economics Minister. The Greens were looking for solutions in the coalition without public disputes for the everyday problems of people.
Lessons for the 2025 election campaign
Co-state chairwoman Kayat highlighted the successes of the black-green coalition in NRW in the energy transition. "We are constantly exceeding our own records in the expansion of renewable energies, we are leaving coal in the past, we are making steel green." She also wanted to strengthen the cohesion between people and build bridges to people outside the Greens. "If the Greens only speak to the Greens, we will only convince those who are already convinced."
The party needed to draw lessons from the European election result for the communal and federal election campaign next year. In every rational decision, the Greens needed to consider how it would affect people's lives. The party also needed to be honest about what was feasible in the current situation.
From the base came criticism after the election slump. The profile of the Greens had become unclear, said a speaker. The Greens have drifted into a party that makes politics for the better-off with a pedagogical claim, she added.
No Culture War
The Greens must now demonstrate reliability, according to the re-elected state leader Achtermeyer. Apparently, the people felt that the party wanted change as an end in itself - "or even worse: a culture war," he said. It wasn't about gender issues for the Greens, but rather the everyday concerns of people that were decisive. Young couples failed in family planning because they couldn't find an affordable housing, commuters failed on bus connections in the countryside, and parents failed at reliable kindergarten places.
Achtermeyer called again for Schuldenbremse reform in the federal government, as the current budget rules force the country to save where it hits poorer people disproportionately hard. The Schuldenbremse rules were no longer in line with the situation in Europe due to the war, inflation, and geopolitical circumstances. Without a relaxation of the debt rules, investments would be blocked and the cohesion of the country would be endangered.
Peace Protest at the Door
Approximately 40 peace activists demonstrated in front of the event hall in Oberhausen against German arms deliveries to the Ukraine that was attacked by Russia and demanded negotiations. The coalition involving the Greens contributes to the dangerous escalation spiral, they criticized.
Information about the party conference
- The Greens in North Rhine-Westphalia are focusing on reliability and continuity to regain trust after their poor performance in the European elections.
- The dual leadership of Yasmin Kayat and Tim Achtermeyer was confirmed at the party conference in Oberhausen, demonstrating the party's commitment to stability.
- Omid Nouripour, the Green federal chairman, emphasized the need for the party to make its visions clearer beyond climate and nature protection after the European elections.
- NRW Greens gained around 500 new members since the European elections, with over 27,000 members now in the party.
- Mona Neubaur, the Deputy NRW Minister-President, called for the Greens to regain lost trust and work constructively in the coalition without public disputes.
- Kayat highlighted the successes of the black-green coalition in NRW in the energy transition and stressed the need to build bridges to people outside the Greens.
- Achtermeyer called for Schuldenbremse reform in the federal government, arguing that the current budget rules were unfairly impacting poorer people.
- Around 40 peace activists protested outside the party conference in Oberhausen, criticizing German arms deliveries to Ukraine and demanding negotiations.
