Ahead of Gen Z protests, Greens' Dröge urges youth dialogue at the Chancellery
Katharina Dröge (Greens) says she understands young people's anger. Merz should invite representatives of youth organizations to the Chancellery, she says. She rejects violence.
Archive image · Photo: Martin Kraft / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Ahead of youth protests planned for Saturday in more than 30 cities, Greens parliamentary leader Katharina Dröge has called on Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) to invite representatives of youth organizations to the Chancellery for talks. "Young people are rightly angry because the federal government does not take their concerns seriously enough," she told the German Press Agency. "The chancellor should listen to young people's criticism and take their concerns seriously."
Dröge accused the CDU/CSU and the SPD of policies hostile to young people. "Schools in Germany are crumbling because too little is invested in education," she said. The Greens in the Bundestag are calling for an annual federal school modernization program, more staff such as school psychologists, and a reform of student grants (BAföG) with a higher housing allowance. Dröge wants to finance this partly by halting climate-damaging investments.
Peaceful protests are "important in a democracy", Dröge said. She rejects violence, and the organizers have a duty to prevent it, she said. The "Gen Z regelt" initiative is calling, among other things, for a rally at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.