At the Greens' party congress in Baden-Württemberg, top candidate Cem Özdemir sharply criticized the CDU, accusing it of breaking promises. He charged the Union with lying brazenly to the population after the federal election. The CDU counters by alleging panic among the Greens.
The election campaign in Baden-Württemberg is intensifying, as shown by the confrontation at the Greens' party congress in Ludwigsburg. Cem Özdemir, running to succeed outgoing Minister President Winfried Kretschmann, targeted the CDU as the main rival. Kretschmann, Germany's first and only Green minister president at the federal level, will not seek re-election after three terms in the state election on March 8, 2026. The CDU's Manuel Hagel, state and parliamentary group leader, is entering the race.
Özdemir particularly criticized the Union's key promise in the federal election to avoid new debts. 'After the election, the Union brazenly lied to the population in their faces,' he said. He accused the CDU of making different promises depending on the audience in the state election campaign: posing as worker advocates to employees, claiming the opposite to employers, adopting farmers' demands with rural groups, and saying what environmentalists want to hear on nature protection.
The CDU responded swiftly. Secretary General Tobias Vogt described Özdemir's attacks as a desperate reaction to polls. 'The Greens and their top candidate are in panic, caught between defiance and tears,' he stated. Vogt accused Özdemir of poorly copying CDU positions on issues like state tolls, wolves and beavers, the economy, and internal security – none of which the parliamentary group or party would ever support.
At the congress, the Greens are aligning for the state election. After debating hundreds of amendment proposals, the final program is set for Sunday, with a strong emphasis on economic themes. Core areas like climate, nature protection, and transport are addressed later and less extensively. Federal co-chair Franziska Brantner is scheduled to give a speech.
