GERMANY’S GREENS DECLARE THEY’RE READY TO TAKE CHANCELLORSHIP

Germany's Green party is ready - for change as well as for a run at the chancellor's office - and they want to make sure voters know it, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

Their new campaign slogan "Bereit, weil Ihr es seid" - which translates roughly to "We're ready, because you are" - hints at the party's desire to bring about changes in German society, but also at its hopes to shake up the leadership of the country in September's elections.

This is the first national election campaign in which the Greens have put forward a potential chancellor candidate: Annalena Baerbock. It's not clear if the party will have enough support to pick a successor to Angela Merkel, but it speaks of the party's ambitions this election cycle.

The party leadership presented their new slogan on Thursday, making a point to pick a spot with a clear view of the chancellor's office, with half of the phrase printed with environmentally friendly paint on a bridge, while the rest was displayed on a boat.

Michael Kellner, secretary-general of the national party, says the motto sets out to make two points. First, German society is far readier than the country's current leadership for changes in approach to the climate crisis, inequality in society, or moves to boost power at the European level.

There "are very great expectations, a great readiness for change, that we are relying on for this campaign." But the slogan is also there to make a statement about the Greens: "Essentially, that we're ready."

He noted that this is the first time the party has gone into a campaign "where we're in a duel with the Union for control of the chancellor's office and where we have for the first time put forward a chancellor candidate," said Kellner.

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