Carola Rackete, the German climate and migration activist who became a Member of the European Parliament last year on the ticket of the left-wing Die Linke, resigned her seat on 9 July. Announcing the decision through The Left group, the 37-year-old said her candidacy had always been intended as a catalyst for Die Linke’s renewal and that her team had planned from the outset to handle the mandate in a “collective” fashion. Under German electoral rules the seat now passes to economist Martin Günther, also of Die Linke, who pledged to carry forward Rackete’s focus on climate justice and social policy. Rackete is formally unaffiliated to any party but was the face of the party’s 2024 European campaign, helping it regain ground after a difficult electoral cycle. Rackete first drew international attention in 2019 when, as captain of the rescue ship Sea-Watch 3, she defied an Italian port ban to land dozens of migrants on Lampedusa, sparking a legal clash with then-Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. Her departure from Strasbourg is expected to allow her to return to frontline environmental and humanitarian activism while Die Linke continues its internal restructuring under new parliamentary representation.