Greens Anticipate Triumph in Key Elections Against AfD in Hochburgen and Wall

The Greens party in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is gearing up for the local elections on September 14, 2025, with a clear strategy focused on ecological and social transformation. The party's campaign, dubbed "Power for Tomorrow," emphasises climate action, sustainability, and addressing key regional industrial challenges.

In Cologne, the Greens' candidate, Kurdish-German Green politician Aymaz, aims to position the city as the "climate capital of Europe." Aymaz's vision includes prioritising green infrastructure, reducing car use, improving public transport, and significant urban greening by planting 2,000 trees annually. She also emphasises confronting racism and far-right extremism, explicitly calling for a ban on the AfD to prevent the spread of anti-minority propaganda.

In Münster, while specific candidate details are less covered, the Greens are expected to run campaigns consistent with their NRW strategy of eco-social balance, targeting local urban sustainability issues and presenting themselves as an alternative to both traditional parties and far-right forces active in the region.

The Greens are keen on building a progressive and strong ecological alliance to balance economic and climate demands. They warn against far-right shifts and emphasise the need for a broad coalition to address systemic climate and political challenges, including the climate crisis and far-right political threats like those posed by the AfD. This includes contesting the narrative and influence of the AfD through democratic means and advocating for banning its propaganda in local contexts.

The Greens achieved their best result in NRW in the 2020 local elections with 20 percent and won mayoral posts for the first time. They are confident about retaining their mayoral posts in Aachen and Bonn in the upcoming elections. The party is also optimistic about potentially winning the top positions in Cologne and Münster.

However, the central challenges in the upcoming elections include the impacts of the climate crisis and rising rents. The Greens are concerned about the potential strong result of the AfD in the elections. If the AfD gets a strong result and sits in the district councils, they may make far-right politics, according to the Greens.

To mitigate this, the Greens have joint candidates with the SPD in Bochum and with the CDU in the Ennepe-Ruhr district for the upcoming local elections. The party's chairwoman, Britta Haßelmann, also urges the federal government to propose a concrete plan for an old debt fund to help municipalities overcome their structural deficit. Moreover, the Greens suggest that money should be used to renovate swimming pools and invest in sports facilities and cycling paths, with a focus on designing funding programs to make cities more resilient to heat or heavy rain in a way that benefits structurally weak cities.

In conclusion, the Greens' strategy in the NRW local elections is centred on climate action and a firm opposition to far-right extremism. This dual focus is crucial to the party's potential impact in the upcoming elections.