This Saturday, the Greens will elect their candidates for the EU elections at their federal congress. In his speech, party leader Werner Kogler spoke about Ukraine’s right to self-defense and an active neutrality policy.
The Greens gave their 45th Federal Congress in the run-up to this year’s EU and National Council elections the motto “With you for the climate and Europe”. This Saturday, 248 delegates met in Graz. The “Buko” was actually supposed to take place in December, but it was postponed because the search for a top candidate for the EU elections was delayed.
But now the delegates will most likely confirm the environmental activist Lena Schilling at number one on the list, with EU veteran Thomas Waitz aiming for the place behind. Voting takes place on the first six places on the list, with a total of twelve candidates running for places two to six.
At least it will be exciting to see who gets third place on the list. The Austrian Greens currently have three mandates in the EU Parliament. Ines Vukajlović, Green integration spokesperson in Upper Austria, as well as Viennese Katrin Fallmann have publicly announced their candidacy.
The President of the American Football Association Michael Eschlböck is running for fourth place. Sarah Wiener, a prominent career changer in the last election, is not running again, as is long-time representative Monika Vana. Federal spokesman and Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler, the green EU driving force at the last ballot, is this time concentrating entirely on the National Council elections in the fall.
Speaking of Kogler: After the opening of the federal congress and the welcome by Graz Vice Mayor Judith Schwentner and Sandra Krautwaschl, state spokeswoman for Green Styria, the party leader gave his speech.
“The world is out of control, yeah eh”
First of all, it was about the EU: “European unification has never been more threatened than it is now,” said Kogler. “Despite all the shortcomings that European unification has – it is still the best.” But now the democratic, liberal, cosmopolitan Europe is being massively attacked, “from outside and also from within”. The world is out of joint, said Kogler “yes eh”. But: “That Hamlet, that was a beautiful suderant.” There would be no benefit if everything was laughed down because we live in times of war and crisis. That’s why Kogler offers a counter-quote from Jean Paul Sartre: “There may be better times, but these are ours.”
In view of today’s anniversary of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Kogler stated: “Nationalism leads to war, that cannot be emphasized often enough.” If Putin stops, then this war will be over. If Ukraine stops, it will be wiped out. Neutrality does not mean standing by passively, said Kogler. “We can also actively revive neutrality again.” Austria must do the maximum that we can with our status. Then the Green federal spokesman pulled a Ukraine flag out of his trouser pocket and hung it around his neck. The delegates acknowledged this with applause and a standing ovation.
Two key proposals will then be submitted and discussed. The first comes from Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler and Social Affairs Minister Johannes Rauch. In terms of content, it is a reflection of the “founding mission of the Green Movement”. It is said that the fossil fuel lobby is waging a final defensive battle against a green future using all means possible. In contrast, they want to enforce “the right guidelines”. “The expansion of renewable energies is part of a courageous economic and industrial policy that guarantees independent and affordable supplies and secures competitiveness.” And: “The climate crisis is always also a social question. (…) We want revenue from CO2 pricing to be used to finance services for people who are particularly affected by rising energy or transport costs.” There are also classic green proposals such as a turnaround in transport and soil protection as well as a turnaround in agricultural policy. The party also remains skeptical about the issue of genetic engineering and calls for mandatory labeling of food.
Justice Minister Alma Zadić and club boss Sigrid Maurer presented the second key proposal. The basic idea: Our democracies are threatened from the outside by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and from within by the rise of right-wing populist to right-wing extremist parties. In the further development of the Common Security and Defense Policy, those aspects that are not brought into the European debate by NATO members must also be emphasized: restrictions on arms exports, disarmament and civilian conflict prevention and resolution. (eho)
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2024-02-24 08:36:19
#Kogler #Hamlet #beautiful #Suderant
