Carola Rackete, a German MEP known for her activism regarding NGO migrant vessels, has announced her resignation from the European Parliament.
After having served for just one year, she will leave her seat to Martin Günther, a German politician from Die Linke, part of The Left Group in the EP.
Former captain of the German NGO boat Sea-Watch 3, Rackete was elected as an independent on the list of Die Linke in 2024. She indicated that she and her team wanted to shape her mandate “collectively”.
“From the very beginning, my candidacy and my mandate had the goal of contributing to the renewal of the party – a process that is successful,” she said in a statement on July 9.
She did not specify what here future plans were.
Since 2015, Sea-Watch 3 has picked up migrants in trouble in the Mediterranean Sea. The NGO’s ship has faced legal difficulties in Italy and Germany.
Rackete, who described herself as “Antifa” on social media, used her ship in 2019 to break through an Italian blockade at sea, an event that included a collision with a boat from the Italian law enforcement agency.
On board Sea Watch 3 were 53 migrants, three of whom later faced serious criminal charges.
The Sea Watch organisation took over operating the vessel in 2017 from the Doctors without Borders charity.
Rackete also made headlines by calling for the climate movement Fridays for Future to transition from “symbolic protest” to “direct action”.
On her announcing her resignation, her successor Günther stated he would continue her “fight for climate justice”.
“A more social and ecological EU will only exist if we can take them away from the super-rich and their lobbyists,” he added.
Günther also ran at the EP elections last year for Die Linke.
Roberto Vannacci, Italian MEP for the League Party, reacted with apparent glee to news of Rackete’s resignation. “We are not going to miss you,” he wrote on Facebook.
He added three pictures of Rackete, focusing in on her bare legs.
The Italian media quickly accused him of “body shaming”, which he said was an “unfounded” charge.
Vannacci used an analogy in an attempt to illustrate his point.
“If a lady deliberately and publicly displays a plunging décolleté, it means that she is particularly proud of it and appreciates those who publicly re-propose or portray it,” he said.
“If the same lady deliberately and publicly highlights hairy legs, can you explain to me why the reasoning should be reversed and the re-proposition of such an aesthetic detail should appear sexist?
“Precisely because it is a deliberate choice on the part of the lady, and not an unfortunate chance or accidental circumstance, I am respecting her wishes,” he claimed.
“You will not be missed.”
MEP Roberto Vannacci celebrates fellow MEP Carola Rackete's resignation by posting a photo of her hairy legs.
July 9, 2025 pic.twitter.com/EXGBbflMQy
— Crazy Ass Moments in Italian Politics (@CrazyItalianPol) July 9, 2025
