German political rivals revive 'pizza connection'
An unusual forum for exchange between German conservative and Greens politicians emerged 30 years ago in the form of the "pizza connection." Now that format
An unusual forum for exchange between German conservative and Greens politicians emerged 30 years ago in the form of the "pizza connection." Now that format is being revived in a changed political landscape. Heading into a recent meeting of her party's parliamentary group, Green Party co-leader Franziska Brantner almost casually announced a surprise: At a meeting of all 85 federal Greens lawmakers held in Leipzig at the end of April, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, former head of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), had been an invited guest. "Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is the chairperson of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, which is working on the question, as are we, of what we can do to prevent society from falling apart at this time," the Greens' other co-leader, Felix Banaszak, told DW. "That also requires a union of the political mainstream." The Konrad Adenauer Foundation is a think tank that is nominally independent, but closely aligned with the CDU. CDU, Greens still at odds a year ago As recently as last year, the Greens and the conservatives were viewed as politically incompatible — at least on the national level. The conservative Union, of the CDU and its Bavarian counterpart the Christian Social Union (CSU), declared the Greens as one of their main rivals during the 2025 federal election campaign. After all, at the time the Greens were in a minority government with the center-left Social Democrats after the neoliberal Free Democrats left the coalition due to a dispute, triggering the early vote.
Germany: 'Flexi‑Greens' lead vote in automaker heartland To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video For many months, this statement from Friedrich Merz, who would later become chancellor, rang in the ears of the Greens: "There is no left-wing majority and no left-wing politics anymore in Germany," Merz said while campaigning in Munich shortly before the election, adding that he wouldn't make policies "for the green and left crackpots of this world." What is the 'pizza connection'? Time has passed, and the Greens are now an opposition party. Some of the political storms have calmed, and there have been reports of individual politicians from both sides meeting regularly once again. In German political lore, the catchphrase for this is "pizza connection." But what do German politicians from the Greens and the conservative parties have to do with the renowned Italian dish? About 30 years ago, in the mid-1990s, representatives of the CDU and the Greens, then fierce rivals, met at an Italian restaurant in the western city of Bonn. At the time, the city was the headquarters of Germany's government and parliament. Cem Özdemir, who is now the state premier of Baden-Württemberg, was one of the Greens politicians there, as was Steffi Lemke, who would later serve as German environment minister. The conservative contingent included Peter Altmaier, who would later serve in Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet, and CDU foreign policy specialist Norbert Röttgen, who remains influential today.
The BriefWire