The Greens firmly reject the plagiarism allegations against Annalena Baerbock. The line of the party was given by Federal Managing Director Michael Kellner on Tuesday from Berlin. On Twitter he wrote: "Full solidarity with Annalena". The Green MEP Hannah Neumann then described the allegations against the book published by Ullstein Verlag as a “dirty campaign against Baerbock”, Jürgen Trittin spoke of a “dirty campaign” that had been picked up on by the newspaper Bild. The EU MP and former party chairman Reinhard Bütikofer, who spoke of a “right-wing propaganda war” against Baerbock, expressed himself even more sharply. At the party headquarters of the Greens in Berlin it is seen in a similar way. There is talk of a new "quality" of the election campaign in the social networks,flanked by certain newspapers and magazines.
Pure burger
Political correspondent in North Rhine-Westphalia.
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Timo Frasch
Political correspondent in Munich.
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Heike Schmoll
Political correspondent in Berlin, responsible for “Bildungswelten”.
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Rudiger Soldt
Political correspondent in Baden-Württemberg.
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Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann told the FAZ on Thursday that it “alienated” him if, three months before the federal election, the focus was not on key issues such as the transformation of the economy due to climate change, digitization or the cohesion of society after the pandemic A dispute would arise. Baerbock has the skills and integrity to be a chancellor. The Bavarian parliamentary group leader of the Greens, Ludwig Hartmann, told the FAZ: "For me, the permanent attacks on Annalena Baerbock are one thing above all else: panic diversionary maneuvers from our green ideas for a good life for our children and grandchildren."
The state chairman of the North Rhine-Westphalian Greens, Felix Banaszak, who should probably belong to the next Bundestag thanks to a good list position, spoke of an “excessive campaign”: “But if we argue more about a few passages in a book than about urgency the climate crisis and its social consequences, that is just unrealistic. ”The attacks of the past few days were reminiscent of the“ extreme over-polarization ”of American election campaigns.
But the Greens also contribute to this: Oliver Krischer, the deputy leader of the Greens in the Bundestag, accused the North Rhine-Westphalian state government of endangering human lives in Canada with a hesitant climate policy.
The country is currently suffering from extreme temperatures.
Obvious change of strategy
Compared to the reactions to earlier missteps by the Chancellor candidate, the Federal Greens have implemented a change of strategy. Baerbock apologized several times for her first mistake, some of them at prime time on television. Her mishap, that she had slipped a swear word at the digital federal delegates' conference after her application speech, had not caused much of a stir. In the current case, which leads to the accusation that Baerbock did not research her book as carefully as one might expect from an applicant for the second highest office in the state, the Greens, on the other hand, react with harshness. When the plagiarism allegations became known, the strategists at the party headquarters were faced with the question of what reaction they would use to harm the already damaged candidate for chancellor more:with a cascade of new apologies or with attacks on the political opponent and the hint that it is a "campaign".
In contrast to the discussions about additional income and Baerbock's curriculum vitae, there have now been allegations that are legally inapplicable, according to the Berlin party leadership. “It was now about the public signal that the allegation of copyright infringement is not tenable. That's why we had to react harder. ”Baerbock's book is not a scientific work; the author thanked the book for the numerous hints and assistance in writing it. The decision to write the book was made before the candidate for chancellor. “She wanted to show where she comes from, where is she heading.” The book shouldn't have played a major role in the election campaign.
In parts of the party, however, a discussion has long since begun about the causes of the mistakes in the Baerbock campaign: The green party, it is said, is a pseudo-giant after all. The party apparatus is too small for such a big task. It was registered too late in the federal office that there was a difference between a top candidate and a candidate for chancellor. If you put the question of power offensively with a candidate for chancellor, then you have to expect more violent resistance.
Some see it as a weakness that Baerbock and Robert Habeck carried the principle of always clearly naming their own mistakes. If you name the smallest mistakes or even apologize for them, the voter gets the impression that you keep making mistakes. Now it is important to “optimize the ability to sit out”. In this respect, it is of no use to dig out mistakes or sloppiness of the Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet.