Who Are The Members Of Austria's Green Party?

The Green Party in Austria has had a strong showing in recent years, with the party receiving 9.47% of votes in the 2002 National Council elections and winning 17 mandates to the National Council. In the 2006 elections, the Greens gained four seats and ended up with 21 seats in Parliament, becoming the third-largest party. The Green Party has also seen success in local elections, such as in Innsbruck in 2006, where they gained eight of the 40 seats in the city's parliament. The Green Party's success has been attributed to its focus on environmental and social issues, with prominent Green politicians including Rudolf Anschober, Thomas Blimlinger, and Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek.

The Green Party's early success in Austria

The Green Party in Austria was founded in 1984 during sit-in protests against the building of the Danube power plant at Hainburg. In the 1986 parliamentary elections, the Green Party received 4.82% of the votes cast and entered parliament with eight National Council mandates.

The Green Party's early success can be attributed to a few key factors. Firstly, the Austrian Green movement gained momentum in 1978 with a successful campaign to prevent the opening of a nuclear power plant in Zwentendorf. This campaign helped to establish the Green Party's environmental credentials and attract support from those opposed to nuclear power.

Secondly, the Greens were able to gain support in western Austrian regions due to the importance of the traditional organic farming sector. The party's policies aligned with the values and interests of many people in these regions, allowing them to consolidate their position and gain seats on the communal and municipal levels.

Additionally, the Vorarlberg Greens, a state-level branch of the party, played a significant role in the Green Party's early success. In 1984, the Vorarlberg Greens won 13% of the votes in the Vorarlberg state assembly elections, which was considered an absolute sensation at the time. This success was largely due to the efforts of their leading candidate, Kaspanaze Simma, a charismatic alpine farmer from Bregenzerwald. The strength of the Vorarlberg Greens allowed the Green Party to form their own parliamentary fraction, despite some logistical challenges.

In the following years, the Green Party continued to make gains, receiving 9.47% of the votes in the early elections to the National Council in 2002 and winning 17 mandates. The party has since been a part of several Austrian governments and, in 2024, won 8.2% of the votes in the Austrian legislative election. The current President of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, is also from the Green Party, demonstrating the enduring success and influence of the Greens in Austrian politics.

The Green Party's growth in Innsbruck

The Green Party in Austria has been growing in popularity since its inception in 1984. In the 1986 parliamentary elections, the Green Party started off with 4.82% of all votes cast and entered parliament with eight National Council mandates. In the early elections to the National Council in 2002, the Green Party nationwide received 9.47% of votes, and won 17 mandates to the National Council. After the 2006 elections, the Greens gained four seats and ended up with 21 seats, becoming the third-largest party in Parliament.

In Innsbruck, the Green Party has also been gaining support. In the 2003 Tyrolean Landtag (state assembly) elections, the Austrian Greens won 15.59% of all votes cast, with approximately 27% of the vote in the capital city of Innsbruck. The communal elections of 2004 brought a doubling of the mandates for the Tyrolean Greens. In the city elections in Innsbruck in 2006, the Greens gained eight of the 40 seats in the parliament of Innsbruck. The results in Innsbruck were particularly good: the Green Party received 28.28% of the vote, making it the strongest party, even before the Christian-democratic ÖVP and the social-democratic SPÖ.

The Green Party in Austria has a number of prominent politicians, including Eva Konrad, the Green delegate to the Federal Council (Bundesrat) of Parliament since 2003, and Eva Lichtenberger, who became a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 2006. Other notable Green politicians include Rudolf Anschober, State Councillor of Upper Austria, and Thomas Blimlinger, Mayor of the Viennese district Neubau.

The Green Party's values

The Green Party in Austria, also known as the Austrian Greens, has a varied number of members. In 2002, the Green Party received 9.47% of votes in the early elections to the National Council, winning 17 mandates. In 2003, the party gained four seats and ended up with 21 seats in Parliament, becoming the third-largest party. In the 2004 communal elections, the Tyrolean Greens doubled their mandates, and in the 2006 Innsbruck city elections, they gained eight of the 40 seats in the parliament of Innsbruck.

The Green Party in Austria has a set of core values that guide its policies and actions. According to their charter in 2001, these values include direct democracy, nonviolence, ecology, solidarity, feminism, and self-determination. The party is also Pro-European, advocating for the rights of minorities and a socio-ecological tax reform. The Green Party's values are reflected in their campaigns and initiatives, such as their successful opposition to the construction of nuclear power plants in Zwentendorf and Hainburg.

The Austrian Greens have a diverse range of politicians and representatives, including state councillors, mayors, MPs, and spokespeople. The party has a history of internal differences, with former members of the old Alternative and VGÖ factions holding differing approaches. Despite these variations, the Green Party has gained support and made significant strides in Austrian politics, becoming a part of the federal government in 2020 as a junior partner in a coalition with the conservative People's Party.

The Green Party's youth organisation

GAJ was the officially recognised youth organisation of the Green Party until 2011, when it was replaced by Junge Grüne (Young Greens). During its existence, GAJ regularly organised events and seminars aimed at a young audience, including an annual summer camp for activists from across the German-speaking world to further their political education. Feminism, LGBT+ rights, environmental policy and European politics were among the organisation's key areas of focus.

In 2017, a new youth organisation called Grünalternative Jugend Wien (Green Alternative Youth Vienna) was established, which is part of the nationwide youth organisation Grüne Jugend – Grünalternative Jugend (Green Youth – Green Alternative Youth). This new group publishes a newspaper called Suspect, with a circulation of around 8,500 copies.

In 2014, the Jungen Grünen (Young Greens) provided the website nowkr.at as a "platform for independent anti-fascists" in the wake of protests against the Vienna Akademikerball, which led to serious riots in the city centre. This prompted the Green Party chairwoman Eva Glawischnig to threaten the Jungen Grünen with expulsion from the party. Since then, the website has been run by the anti-fascist alliance NOWKR.

The Green Party's negotiations with the ÖVP

The Green Party in Austria has had a number of members over the years. In 2002, the Green Party received 9.47% of votes in the early elections to the National Council, winning 17 mandates to the National Council. In 2003, Eva Konrad became the Green delegate to the Federal Council (Bundesrat) of Parliament. In 2004, the Tyrolean Greens doubled their mandates in the communal elections. In 2006, the Greens gained four seats in the Austrian parliament, ending up with 21 seats and becoming the third-largest party. However, they did not have enough mandates to form a coalition government with either the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) or the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ).

In 2019, the Green Party was on the verge of entering the government for the first time after agreeing to a preliminary coalition deal with the ÖVP. The Green Party would have been junior coalition partners, taking the place of the far-right Freedom Party, which had been punished by voters following a corruption scandal. This coalition would have given the environmentalists power for the first time.

The Green Party has had a number of notable politicians as members, including Rudolf Anschober, Thomas Blimlinger, Dieter Brosz, Christoph Chorherr, Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek, and Marie Ringler.

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