GERMAN GREENS LAUNCH PARTY CONFERENCE

The German Greens - currently riding high in the polls neck and neck with the conservatives ahead of a general election in September - plan to start their three-day digital party conference this Friday.

Around 800 delegates want to thrash out their election manifesto for the Bundestag elections by Sunday, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

In addition, Annalena Baerbock is to be confirmed on Saturday as the party's candidate to replace Angela Merkel as chancellor if they should come out on top of the polls in September. In the same vote, the delegates are also expected to confirm the election campaign leadership duo with the two-party leaders Baerbock and Robert Habeck.

Content-related disputes are expected above all on the topic of climate protection, which is on the agenda on Friday evening.

It is disputed how far-reaching individual proposals, for example on speed limits or CO2 prices, should be.

The delegates plan to debate and vote digitally due to the pandemic. Only the party leadership and executive committee are expected to be present in Berlin, as well as the chair of the meeting and individual speakers.

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