Burgenland Greens mark 40 years with confidence

Austria’s Burgenland Greens marked their 40th anniversary in Neutal on Saturday, expressing confidence ahead of elections in the coming years, ORF reported.

State party leader and deputy governor Anja Haider-Wallner said Neutal was chosen for practical reasons. The municipality lies in the middle of Burgenland, making it roughly equally accessible to party members from the north and south. The venue also offered the necessary facilities at an affordable cost, she said.

Haider-Wallner said the Burgenland Greens were the sum of many stories and of people campaigning on issues including refugee policy, animal protection, renewable energy, environmental protection and nature conservation. Despite the global shift to the right and shortcomings in climate and nature protection, she said, the party’s common bond was that “we do not give up.”

Greens entered state parliament in 2000

The Burgenland Greens first entered the state parliament in 2000, when Grete Krojer and Josko Vlasich became the party’s first representatives. In the following decades, the party never held more than two seats. It currently has two state parliament members, Margit Paul-Kientzl and Philip Juranich.

Since last year, the Greens have also been coalition partners of the Social Democratic Party and have entered the Burgenland state government for the first time. Haider-Wallner’s appointment as deputy governor was described as a milestone in the party’s history.

Haider-Wallner said she was confident that the Greens’ role as a junior government partner would not hurt them in the upcoming elections. She expected the party to stand in significantly more municipalities in next year’s municipal elections and said voters would recognise progress on green priorities such as climate protection, regenerative agriculture and nature conservation.

Haider-Wallner defends approach to criticism

Haider-Wallner rejected criticism that the Greens had been too cautious over asbestos issues and planned data centres. In opposition, she said, parties could demand anything because they were not judged by what the law allowed.

Asbestos regulations were particularly unclear, she said. Haider-Wallner added that she personally believed quarries should not reopen, but that operators also had rights under the rule of law.