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Unity in front of the cameras - but it is already clear at the beginning of the Green party congress on Thursday: The young and left of the party are questioning the path of the party leadership on migration. Baerbock, Habeck and Co. But have prepared for it with a proven remedy.
Serafin Reiber, DER SPIEGEL
"The Greens have done something they often do on such occasions: they try to avoid conflicts and try to arrange heated debates in such a way that they can somehow be moderated away. And that was the plan here as well. And then, so to speak, the heated debate was saved almost for the end, which of course was also noticeable here, because everyone was simply waiting for this debate."
So while other issues are being discussed for two days and party leaders Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour are being re-elected, the operating temperature in the left-wing camp is slowly but surely rising - which means that the migration debate is quite different from what the Green leadership originally imagined.
Serafin Reiber, DER SPIEGEL
"It was assumed in advance that this would be relatively lukewarm, as it has been in past debates that go back to amendments tabled by the Green Youth. In fact, it got very heated here. The Federal Executive Board has become very nervous. A great many discussions have been held in advance in order to persuade the proposers to withdraw part of their amendment. A lot of concessions were made, and in the end the party leadership saw no other solution than to step up on the stage and defend the government's asylum policy."
Ricarda Lang, Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock will all step back into the ring late on Saturday evening. From their point of view, the Greens would have to leave the traffic light coalition if the Green Youth's motion were to be adopted. And so the Foreign Minister rhetorically goes into the red zone.
Annalena Baerbock, Federal Foreign Minister
"Would you leave the cabinet with Lindner and Scholz? No, Robert shouldn't go out there. He should sit there and negotiate to the end. Please vote for this BuVo motion, dear friends."
In the end, the application is rejected. The Greens can continue in the traffic light. But further disputes with the rank and file are already programmed.
Serafin Reiber, DER SPIEGEL
"The party now has the great task of explaining the compromises better. And that's the way it is: there will be a lot to come for the party. Let's take the verdict from Karlsruhe, which will affect essential parts of all these future projects of the Greens. And that is going to be very, very bitter. And in any case, this was not the last uprising that is being rehearsed here. I believe, however, that, like the previous uprisings, it will remain without consequences, because in the end the chairmen and the party leadership can develop too much force for a serious counter-movement to develop."