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A Green chancellor (yes, a Green chancellor) will keep Germany and Europe safe
Kermit the Frog put it best when he sang: “It’s not easy being green.” Greens have often been overlooked and undervalued, to say the least.
Today, however, this is no longer the case.
In Germany, the Greens are dominating the political landscape. For the first time in history, the party has put forward a chancellor candidate. Early opinion polls by Germany’s public broadcaster gave the Greens a slight lead over Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union. Having worked for Green Party leaders and served Germany’s only Green state premier, I know the party inside out. And I can truly say:
I have never seen the Greens this hungry to shape Germany’s future. After nearly sixteen years of sitting on the opposition benches, they are determined to take the chancellor’s office.
When speaking with politicians and pundits outside Germany about this seismic shift, I am met with amazement and delight. Only one policy area brings a sense of foreboding: national security. How could a movement formed by peaceniks, beatniks, and hippies possibly keep Germany and Europe safe?
This concern, raised particularly in the halls of political power in Central and Eastern Europe, is a legitimate one. But I believe…
