German Green Youth federal congress in Leipzig sees no major conflict with parent party

By David Muschenich, reporting from Leipzig

Published: October 18, 2026, 17:54

At the 60th Federal Congress of the Green Youth (GJ) in Leipzig, the expected clashes between the youth organization and its parent party failed to materialize. The relatively tame tone was welcomed by Green Party leader Felix Banaszak.

Re-election of Federal Spokespeople

When Henriette Held and Luis Bobga once again ran for the positions of federal spokespeople of the Green Youth, both took aim at the federal government. On Saturday, Held criticized Chancellor Friedrich Merz on stage, saying he offered no solutions to the climate crisis. Shortly afterward, Bobga called the entire government "incapable" in an era of thousands of heat-related deaths and financial inequality.

Their parent party, however, was mentioned only once by each candidate: the Greens should distance themselves from the CDU and instead give people hope for the future. Compared to previous years, this was rather mild criticism—the youth organization is traditionally considered more left-wing than the parent party.

The roughly 500 members present nevertheless responded positively. They elected both 24-year-olds to another term: Henriette Held received 86 percent of the vote, Luis Bobga 73 percent.

Key Decisions at the Congress

Beyond the leadership election, the Federal Congress passed several measures over the weekend, including:

• An "East Strategy" to strengthen the member-weak state associations in eastern Germany
• An increase in the youth organization's age limit from 28 to 30 years

Debate contributions repeatedly centered on the climate crisis, the AfD's election results in Saxony-Anhalt, and a possible coalition of the Greens with the Left Party and SPD in Berlin.

Banaszak on Red-Green-Red in Berlin

The prospect of a red-green-red coalition in the capital also occupied party leader Felix Banaszak. The 36-year-old himself served as federal spokesperson of the youth organization from 2013 to 2014. Unlike the GJ, Banaszak has recently expressed criticism of the exploratory talks in Berlin. He said he would have wished for the Left Party to seriously address its antisemitism problem. Differences between parties must be resolved before they can form a government, he said on Sunday in Leipzig—only then could such a government be stable. Speaking publicly about this did not mean he preferred a coalition with the CDU, Banaszak added.

On Israel and Internal Debate

However, he also considered it unwise to rule out any cooperation with the CDU from the outset. Within the Union, a "battle over direction" was underway regarding whether to work with the AfD. The Greens must offer options to those who advocate a firewall against right-wing extremists and thereby support them, Banaszak explained. He received polite applause for this—only a handful of GJ members stood up.

After his speech, Banaszak took a seat at the front between GJ leaders Held and Bobga and continued listening. He told taz he was pleased about the plurality within the GJ. He said it was a gain that he spent about half an hour on the sidelines of the congress discussing the Greens' position on Israel's war in Gaza with several GJ members wearing keffiyehs over their shoulders. They demanded that the Greens speak of a "genocide in Gaza" rather than vaguely of "war crimes."

Banaszak listened but maintained his position of rejecting this. "It is always worth staying in conversation," he said. He added that he had received support from other GJ members for this stance.

The Junge Realos

The different positions within the GJ had briefly received special attention this summer regarding the loose network of Junge Realos within the youth Greens. According to taz information, they comprise around 400 of the total 19,000 members who, analogous to the Realo wing in the party, advocate for less left-wing perspectives within the youth organization.

No Junge Realos ran for office in the youth organization this weekend. However, they contributed several amendment motions. One of them, reportedly originating from the Junge Realos, appears at the beginning of the lead motion passed on Saturday. It originally stated that a possible red-red-green government in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin was a glimmer of hope. In the final resolution, the text now refers to "progressive coalition alliances" instead of red-red-green.

The "East Strategy"

Also on Saturday, the Federal Congress passed a new "East Strategy" to strengthen the member-weak state associations in eastern Germany. It calls for more networking with local structures and personnel support from western associations. This is an important step, explained Jasper Hitz, one of the two spokespeople of the Green Youth in Saxony-Anhalt, on the sidelines of the congress. It creates "genuine equality" and demonstrates an evolution within the Green Youth. "The East is a topic and will remain one," Hitz said.

Source: taz.de