Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) can imagine Tübingen’s mayor Boris Palmer returning to the Greens – under certain conditions. “Of course I would be happy if he said I’ll accept help, I’ll stop with the nonsense of fighting battles with random people on Facebook at midnight and concentrate on my job,” said Özdemir at the “Long Night of ZEIT”. “He is an excellent mayor, he should do that and leave the other things out. Then he would of course have his place. And I would be happy if that were the case.”
Özdemir explained that he had struggled the most to keep Palmer and built bridges for him. “Unfortunately, he was the first to tear down these bridges.” Palmer resigned from the Greens in May 2023 after a scandal at a migration conference. His membership had already been suspended before that because of provocative statements. During a month-long break, Palmer also sought professional help.
Özdemir said that Palmer “had, as mayor, kept what others had promised: the balance sheet on CO₂, the expansion of public transport, housing policy, the accommodation and integration of refugees – some people could learn a thing or two from that.”
“Writing people off forever is something you should do very rarely,” Özdemir stressed.