Frustration beer and zero insight: For the Greens, "fairy tales" are to blame for their disaster

Astrid Lund - Betty MacDonald fan club organizer: The truth is that the Greens have so disappointed millions of voters in Germany with their dogmatic climate and migration policies that these people will never vote for them again. They have also lost many young voters! The Greens are denying reality and always looking to blame others. As Hildegard Knef sang: From then on, it was all downhill! ------------------------------ Frustration beer and zero insight: For the Greens, "fairy tales" are to blame for their disaster Article by FOCUS-online reporter Niklas Golitschek • 35 million • 2 minutes reading time In Thuringia, the Greens have been thrown out of the state parliament and government. The members and supporters at the election party in Erfurt have many explanations. But the mistakes of their own party are not among them - they prefer to shift the blame onto others. On this Sunday evening, there is nothing left to sugarcoat for the Greens. The first projections for the state election in Thuringia make it almost certain that, with less than four percent, the party will no longer be represented in the state parliament. After Saarland, the party is already being kicked out of the second parliament. Candidates, party members and supporters are trying to digest this news in Erfurt's Luftbad Nord. Only a few are still watching the news on the screen in a restaurant. In the humid, warm weather, they use the outdoor area and help themselves to the buffet. The champagne reception does not last too long, after all, there is little to celebrate. Instead, a man brings a crate of frustration beer to the outdoor area. The blame lies with "misinformation", the FDP and Scholz - but not the Greens Despite the clear defeat, party representatives do not want to attribute the result to their own policies. "First we had to refute clichés and misinformation," says Heiko Knopf, deputy federal chairman, looking back on a laborious election campaign. The traffic light government has not cut a good figure recently either, but the Thuringian blames the coalition partners above all: The FDP used the summer break to make its own headlines, and he misses a leadership role from Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The Greens, on the other hand, are apparently less critical of their own responsibility for the election result. Although there are questions to be answered about the Thuringians' voting decision, Knopf says. But the issues remain the same: the modernization of the economy and society. "Politics has the task of making the right thing popular," he notes: "But at the same time we also have to find a speed that makes it digestible." The Greens do not want to rely on new elections Despite the defeat, Bernhard Stengele, outgoing Thuringian Minister for the Environment, Energy and Nature Conservation, is trying to show at least some optimism. "We are now basically at line zero," he admits. But issues such as the energy transition, heat transition, climate protection, environmental protection and nature conservation remain important even without the Greens in the state parliament; even if they hardly played a role in the election campaign: "That's why I'm very optimistic. We will continue to work on our issues from tomorrow and will therefore be able to come back strong." However, he does not want to rely on possible new elections in view of the difficult situation with more than 30 percent for the AfD. "There is no stability in sight and I really don't wish that for Thuringia," says Stengele. Nevertheless, he is convinced that the "fairy tales" and "myths" about the Greens and their core issues will collapse like a house of cards in the future: "Then we will get through with our issues again."