Alliance '90/The Greens Party

Europe must step up. While EU leaders have expressed solidarity in the wake of the Trump-Vance-Zelensky Oval Office meeting, tweets and statements do not help on the battlefield. Ukraine needs weapons and financial support. The challenge Europe faces is not a lack of capability, but a weakness of will. Europe possesses immense resources but struggles to mobilise them effectively.

Despite the more difficult majorities in society and parliaments, the Greens should not spend too much time licking their wounds. Instead: open the gates and invite people everywhere to get involved in forward-looking politics.

Germany held snap federal elections on 23 February 2025. What will the new political constellation mean for European unity, the EU’s decarbonisation and competitiveness agenda, and the EU’s role in the world? Roderick Kefferpütz analysed the election results and their implications for Germany’s role in Europe with Dr. Jana Puglierin, Sven Giegold, Leonore Gewessler, Jeanette Süß and Jolanta Szymańska.

The Greens emerge from the election relatively stable despite losses. Formation of the political will within and outside of parties must reorganise itself. Democratic parties must remain able to compromise among themselves in order to fulfil their responsibility for the political order in Germany and beyond.

2024 was a challenging year for any government’s ruling party. Incumbent governments struggled as the cost-of-living crisis disgruntled voters around the globe. This was especially true for junior coalition partners, who often bear the brunt of electoral backlash. Green parties were no exception to the rule.

Roderick Kefferpütz, Director of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung EU talks to Reinhard Bütikofer. He was Member of the European Parliament for the Green/EFA group for 15 years, from 2009 to 2024. During his time at the European Parliament, Reinhard Bütikofer focused on foreign affairs, international trade, and EU-China relations. He served as the chair of the EP delegation for relations with China and was a long-standing member of the delegation for relations with the United States. As Co-Chair of the European Green Party from 2012 to 2019, and as a Leader of the German Green Party from 2002 to 2008, he played an important role in shaping Green policies in Europe. In this episode, they delve into his insights on evolving global challenges, the trajectory of Green EU policies, and the future of EU-China relations, in a conversation filled with reflections, and strategies for addressing pressing global issues.

2019 was an extraordinary election year for the European Green Party, and it was clear from the beginning of the 2024 campaign that it would be tough to match it again this year. While the Greens lost seats overall, most of the losses were concentrated in Germany and Western Europe, while the bloc was able to pick up new seats in the South and East.

EU nukes, EU army, EU Defence Commissioner – the debate on European security and defence is heating up. It feels like every week a new political proposal is made. So we asked three questions to Sara Nanni, Member of the German Bundestag and the Green parliamentary group’s spokesperson on defence policy, on how she views the latest developments.

The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung’s Foreign Policy Conference in February gave a snapshot of the German Green Party’s foreign policy priorities vis-à-vis Ukraine and Eastern Europe.