MERA25

Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 was founded on 9 February 2016, at the Volksbühne, Berlin. In an internal Europe-wide online vote, Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 decided to establish another political association in Germany for the 2019 European elections. It was founded on 2 June 2018, in Frankfurt under the name Democracy in Europe (DiEM25). Laura Müller and Jasper Finkeldey were elected as the two chairpersons at the General Assembly of DiEM25 on 24 November 2018. The top candidate for the European elections in Germany was former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, with Daniela Platsch running as the second to top candidate.{{cite book|author=Patricia Hecht|title=Deutscher Flügel von DiEM25: Europa? Mit links|series=Die Tageszeitung: taz|date=2018-05-29|issn=0931-9085|url=https://taz.de/Deutscher-Fluegel-von-DiEM25/!5509527/|access-date=2023-10-19|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231019110728/https://taz.de/Deutscher-Fluegel-von-DiEM25/!5509527/|archive-date=2023-10-19}} The party was supported by Democracy in Motion and Mut.{{cite web|author=Demokratie in Bewegung |url=https://bewegung.jetzt/europa-2019/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522134741/https://bewegung.jetzt/europa-2019/|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 22, 2019|title=Europa ist unsere Zukunft|language=de-de |access-date=2019-04-05}}{{cite web|archive-date=2023-10-19 |url=https://www.mut-bayern.de/2019/03/31/mut-zur-europa-wahl/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231019055210/https://www.partei-mut.de/2019/03/31/mut-zur-europa-wahl/ |title=mut zur Europa Wahl |date=31 March 2019 |publisher=MUT |language= de-de|access-date=2023-10-19}} In the election, the party won 130,072 votes in Germany. This corresponded to a vote share of 0.3 percent, which was not enough for any of the 96 German representatives for the European Parliament.{{cite web|author=Bundeswahlleiter |url=https://www.bundeswahlleiter.de/europawahlen/2019/ergebnisse/bund-99.html|archive-date=2019-06-10 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190610135418/https://www.bundeswahlleiter.de/europawahlen/2019/ergebnisse/bund-99.html|title=Europawahl 2019 Stimmverteilung |date=2019-05-27 |language=de-de |access-date=2023-10-19}}

On 28 November 2020, the association was founded as a party under the name Democracy in Europe.{{cite web|url=https://diem25.org/diem25-hat-eine-partei/ |title=DiEM25 hat eine Partei! – MERA25 und DiEM25 in Deutschland |work=DiEM25 |date=2020-12-09 |language=de-DE|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231019055128/https://diem25.org/diem25-hat-eine-partei/|archive-date=2023-10-19 |access-date=2023-10-19}} On 13 November 2021, the party was re-established and took the name of the Greek electoral wing MέΡA25.

MERA25 ran for the first time in the 2023 Bremen state election. The campaign was financed exclusively by individual donations and focused on the topic of housing.{{cite web|author=Jan Genin |url=https://diem25.org/ist-soweit-deine-unterstuetzung-fuer-die-neue-bremer-solidaritaet/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231019112601/https://diem25.org/ist-soweit-deine-unterstuetzung-fuer-die-neue-bremer-solidaritaet/|archive-date=2023-10-19 |title=Es ist soweit: Deine Unterstützung für die neue Bremer Solidarität – Jan Genin |work=DiEM25 |date=2023-03-10 |language=de-DE |access-date=2023-10-19}}{{cite web|author=David X. Noack |url=https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/1173168.bremenwahl-buerger-in-wut-neu-in-bremen-n-und-bald-auch-bundesweit.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231019112622/https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/1173168.bremenwahl-buerger-in-wut-neu-in-bremen-n-und-bald-auch-bundesweit.html|archive-date=2023-10-19 |title=Bürger in Wut: Neu in Bremen – und bald auch bundesweit? |work=Neues Deutschland |date=2023-05-15 |language=de-DE |access-date=2023-10-19}} The party accounted for 0.6% of all valid second votes.{{cite web|url=https://www.wahlen-bremen.de/Wahlen/2023_05_14/ |title=Wahl zur Bremischen Bürgerschaft |work=wahlen-bremen.de |publisher=Statistisches Landesamt Bremen |language=de |access-date=2023-10-19|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231019055526/https://www.wahlen-bremen.de/Wahlen/2023_05_14/|archive-date=2023-10-19}}

The party was involved in organizing the controversial "Palestine Congress" in 2024, which was broken up by the police.{{Cite web |title=Europawahl: Die Partei MERA25 |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/europawahl/parteien_und_programme/mera25-100.html |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=tagesschau.de |language=de}}{{Cite web |title=Polizei beendet umstrittenen "Palästina-Kongress" in Berlin |url=https://www.rbb24.de/politik/beitrag/2024/04/palaestina-kongress-berlin-polizei-grosseinsatz-antisemitismus.html |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=www.rbb24.de |language=de}} In October of the same year, the party launched a petition for the immediate resignation of Foreign Minister Baerbock of the Greens because of complicity "in serious violations of international law, including genocide and apartheid" with regard to the war in Israel and Gaza since 2023. The petition received over 23,000 signatures after one month.{{Cite web |last=Deutschland |first=MERA25 und DiEM25 in |date=2024-10-22 |title=Petition für den sofortigen Rücktritt von Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock - MERA25 und DiEM25 in Deutschland |url=https://diem25.org/petition-fuer-den-sofortigen-ruecktritt-von-aussenministerin-annalena-baerbock/ |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=DiEM25 |language=de-DE}} Tobias Prüwer wrote in the anti-German weekly Jungle World that "international anti-Zionism" had found its German party in MERA25.{{Cite web |last=Prüwer |first=Tobias |title=Eine deutsche Partei |url=https://jungle.world/artikel/2024/23/mera25-internationaler-antizionismus-eine-deutsche-partei |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=jungle.world |language=de}}

In the 2024 European parliament elections, MERA25 received 118,616 votes, or 0.3% of the federal vote. The party failed to elect any members of the European Parliament. {{Cite web |title=Ergebnisse Deutschland - Die Bundeswahlleiterin |url=https://www.bundeswahlleiterin.de/europawahlen/2024/ergebnisse/bund-99.html |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=www.bundeswahlleiterin.de}}

For MERA25 social policies and radical democracy are the focus of its political orientation. It is considered a left-wing party. The key points of the party program are:{{cite web|url=https://mera25.de/ziele/|archive-date=2023-10-19|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231019054554/https://mera25.de/ziele/ |title=Ziele |language=de-DE |access-date=2023-04-21}}{{cite web|url=https://mera25.de/programm/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231019054602/https://mera25.de/programm/|archive-date=2023-10-19 |title=Für Vision und Verantwortung |language=de-DE |access-date=2023-04-21}}

• Social security with a guaranteed pension, housing and health care
• Workers' rights including a job guarantee, a 4-day week, a universal basic income and increased salaries in social and service jobs
• The Green New Deal for climate neutrality by 2030 for investments in the economy, energy, construction, agricultural sectors and the labor market
• Peace policy against increased military spending{{cite web|url=https://mera25.de/programm/green-new-deal/ |title=Green New Deal: Gute Jobs & Klimaneutralität bis 2030|language=de-DE |access-date=2023-10-19|archive-date=2023-10-19|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231019053202/https://mera25.de/programm/green-new-deal/}}
• Justice for marginalised groups, private individuals towards the state and business, as well as states in the Global South. Migration should be decriminalised and Frontex should be abolished and replaced by search and rescue missions
• The democratisation and federalisation{{cite web|url=https://mera25.de/programm/verfassung/ |title=Ausblick: Eine Verfassung für die europäische Republik|language=de-DE |access-date=2023-10-19|archive-date=2023-10-19|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231019053616/https://mera25.de/programm/verfassung/}} of the European Union, which the party currently believes as an institution with oligarchic features, whose policies evade the democratic control of its citizens

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Category:2021 establishments in Germany

Category:Political parties established in 2021

Category:Political parties supporting universal basic income

Category:Pro-European political parties in Germany

Category:Progressive parties