If attention is the currency of politics, the youth organizations should actually be satisfied.

The 49 Jusos in the SPD parliamentary group are referred to as the “blocking minority of the new government”.

In fact, the parliamentary groups of the SPD, the Greens and the Left would not have a majority in the Bundestag if the Jusos withdrew from group discipline.

The fact that young Greens could also rehearse the uprising does not make life any easier for the next government.

The green faction has also become younger and more left-wing.

22 MPs are under 30 years of age, almost all of them come from the Green Youth.

The youth organization, which describes itself as “young, green, prickly” is confident and knows how to put pressure on the party leadership.

Helene Bubrowski

Political correspondent in Berlin.

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But when the Green Youth was just about to warm up, it suddenly went quiet. She announced via Twitter that the new federal spokeswoman Sarah-Lee Heinrich would not be in touch for a few days. In the face of "massive death threats", her safety has priority over interviews for the time being. What happened? After the election of the new board of the young Greens, Heinrich's earlier statements were unearthed on Twitter. The now 20-year-old woman had posted outrageous tweets in previous years: "Heil" under a swastika, from "Tunte" and "Fotze" she wrote, in a video she complained about the "disgusting white majority society". Apparently no one in the Green Youth or the Green Party noticed this. Heinrich himself described the earlier statements as "maximally stupid and inappropriate",she is "really sorry". The Greens would hardly let their political opponents get away with it, they were lenient with Heinrich: “We all make mistakes. You stand by it and apologize, ”wrote the parliamentary group leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt.

The Green Youth is a bit insecure, but the numerous hostilities against Heinrich also mean that the ranks are closing.

It is not to be expected that the 18,000-member youth organization will take some of its demands back.

Their influence within the party has grown overall.

After all, it is largely due to their account that the number of members of the party has doubled to 120,000 within four years.

A big boost came from the climate movement Fridays for Future.

It is not enough for the party leadership to express its heartfelt thanks for the help in the election campaign; the young people make substantive demands.

And they have it all.

The impact on the soundings is small

Before the election, the young Greens had openly campaigned for an alliance with the SPD and the left, which is then called a “progressive majority”. At the federal congress last weekend, the Green Youth had ruled out a Jamaica coalition. The new co-chairman Timon Dzienus did not speak of “red lines” for a traffic light coalition, but of “clear conditions”: “Consistent climate protection, affordable rents, a human asylum policy and real social justice - we won't do it below that.” These Most Greens would claim goals for themselves, but the interpretation of the terms by the youth organization is more radical than by the parent party. In addition to the 1.5-degree path in climate protection, social justice is a top priority for the Green Youth. From the perspective of the young Greens this means:Abolish Hartz IV, introduce rent cover. They also insist on a training guarantee: everyone should get an apprenticeship position.

It is the job of youth organizations to be inconvenient, to drive the party in front of them, to provoke. In 2018, the Green Youth made it clear that they found the title of the summer trip of the Greens chairman “Des Glückes Unterpfand” too patriotic. Their influence on negotiations with the SPD and FDP exists, but is not too great: The Green Youth sends representatives to the preparatory groups, but not to the exploratory team. However, there is Ricarda Lang, former federal spokeswoman for the Green Youth. She is still well connected in the youth organization, even if she appears differently in her new role as deputy party leader. Not only does she hear the concerns of young party friends, her job is also to manage expectations so that there are no too big disappointments in the end.