Enlarge image
Green candidate Baerbock: "Briefly slipped into old trenches"
Photo: CLEMENS BILAN / EPA
Green Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock exercised self-criticism in the discussion about passages in her book Fehler.
"In retrospect, it would certainly have been better if I had worked with a list of sources," she told the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
In her work, she consciously resorted to publicly available sources, especially when it comes to facts.
"But I take the criticism seriously." Baerbock had been accused of several literal takeovers in her book "Jetzt".
Most recently, Baerbock had defended her behavior and pointed out that it was not a scientific work.
The basis of the book were transcripts of long interviews with her.
"It's not a doctoral thesis right now."
Baerbock promotes fairer cooperation in the election campaign
In the »Süddeutsche Zeitung«, Baerbock now called for a fairer tone in the election campaign.
"For more than three years in the party, Robert Habeck and I worked intensively on overcoming rifts through a different address and attitude," said the Greens chairwoman.
This type of communication is put to the test in a tough election campaign, precisely because of personal hostility.
"I also slipped into old trenches for a moment," confessed Baerbock.
"It's the opposite for me: to discuss the big questions of the future openly and broadly, hard and clear on the matter, but fair in tone and open to arguments."
The Greens had initially rejected the allegations against Baerbock as "character assassination".
The Greens countered the allegation that the text passages taken over could be copyright infringements by stating that the passages described are generally accessible facts or known green positions.
In the debate, Baerbock recently also jumped aside Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and CSU politician Horst Seehofer.
Scholz called the dealings with the only candidate for chancellor "not fair", Seehofer called the criticism of Baerbock's book "exaggerated".
Baerbock has been criticized for weeks.
She had to subsequently report additional income to the Bundestag and correct her curriculum vitae published on the Internet.
Currently, both Baerbock and her party are struggling with declining polls.
fek / AFP