With Courage for Liberty

Germany today is for the most part an open and tolerant country. People can decide for themselves how they want to live. Germany has done well to open itself up in recent decades. Diversity is an asset that makes our country alive and growing.

But this open society is currently being massively put to the test. Religious and political fanatics are challenging the rule of law with terrorist attacks. Right-wing nationalists divide people into a national "we" and "they". They want to go return to the day before yesterday. Waves of hate and incitement roll through the social media. We work against that: No tolerance for intolerance! We fight for diversity, openness and peaceful coexistence. We take action wherever the rule of law is threatened. Only a strong constitutional state guarantees security and protects freedom.

We will further expand freedoms and reduce discrimination

Germany is founded on diversity and equality. With us, there will be no relapse into a society in which female judges or car mechanics are not the norm and single parents are looked at askance. There will be no relapse into a time when men who love men and women who love women became a public scandal. We defend our democracy and open society against its enemies, no matter from which corner hatred and homophobia, sexism, racism or anti-Semitism come.

We will continue to extend freedoms, reduce discrimination and promote equality in our country. For even today, some people are denied the right to belong on an equal footing.

We are strengthening the police and security authorities to ensure greater security

Germany is a safe country. We want it to stay that way. Where threatening situations are brooding, we respond with a security policy that effectively averts new hazards by applying existing law effectively – rather than administering political placebos. We equip police and security authorities better - with more staff, good training and up-to-date technology.

We change laws where they are incomplete, not on the basis of suspicion. We protect the public space as a place where everyone can move freely without fear. We are convinced that a strong constitutional state can at the same time effectively ward off threats, protect fundamental rights and preserve our freedom.

Our guiding principle is the German Basic Law

We want to strengthen humanity and cohesion in the knowledge that a democracy is as much about compromise as it is about respect for one another. Our guiding principle is the Basic Law. Respecting human dignity and the personal freedom of others, equal rights for women and men, as well as freedom of religion and criticism of religion are the foundations of our democracy. The rights of our Basic Law apply equally to everyone, without restriction or relativisation. Protecting them is our obligation and a lesson from the darkest chapters of German history.

Democracy thrives on trust. Trust in those who represent the citizens in parliament and trust in democratic institutions. We want to strengthen and win back trust in the political culture. We stand for fair debates, respectful competition for the best ways forward and a successful search for compromise.

Read the op-ed by Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck, chairpersons of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen on us.boell.org: Looking ahead - Europe’s offer for a new transatlantic agenda