"Schneider's glasses"

Is the Green Party history?

The election results for the Greens have been better before. Party leader Werner Kogler also felt this in the most recent National Council elections.

(Bild: Jöchl Martin)

The Greens' election results have declined significantly in recent years. In his latest column, author Robert Schneider asks himself how this has come about.

Wherever I look: Green is fading. I'm not talking about the fall. I'm talking about an idea when protests against major local and national projects began to form in this country in the 1970s. Citizens' initiatives turned into real mass movements, and the occupation of the Hainburger Au was ultimately the birth of the Greens in Austria. Since then, a lot of water has flowed down the Danube and the Rhine.

What has become of the Green idea, this essentially highly romantic political approach à la Rousseau, a vision that has taken up the cause of protecting our nature? The cries of abuse and social bullying have become louder and louder in recent years. Until it got to the point where Green politicians could no longer take to the streets without police protection.

The trend is evident across Europe. The movement is gradually losing ground and becoming marginalized. Right-wing populist parties are on the rise. They will take the helm in the coming decades. The recent failure of the traffic light coalition in neighboring Germany is just further proof that people are fed up with green. Why are they fed up? Was it simply a question of communication? Certainly, because no one could hear the daily refrain of climate change and gender issues anymore. But that's just the surface.

We are living in a time of fear and disorientation. The rosy times are over and everything was only going up. Even if the Greens will only ever be in opposition, they have achieved something: it has seeped into even the dullest, right-wing minds that we cannot plunder our planet. Trump will try again. But he too will fail.