Chair: Greens must be alternative to shift to right in Germany

The chairman of Germany's Green Party, Felix Banaszak, views his party's poor performance in the local elections in the country's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia on Sunday as a result of a fundamental political shift.

"Ecological, progressive politics are currently having a hard time," Banaszak said on regional public broadcaster WDR.

For the Greens, he said, it is now important to embody a "credible alternative to this fundamental rightward pressure in society."

The question, he added, is: "Who gives people hope and confidence, who do not want to just stand by and watch everything drift in such a direction as we are experiencing in the US?"

According to an initial forecast, the Greens suffered significant losses in the local elections and can expect 11.5% of the votes statewide. Last time around in 2020, the party achieved its best local election result with 20%.