Election of EU candidates

Gewessler and Schilling took part in the congress

Lena Schilling, Austria's leading Green candidate, traveled to the congress in Lyon.(Bild: APA/Robert Jäger)

On Saturday, the European Greens elected the lead candidate for the upcoming EU elections in Lyon. Among those attending from Austria were Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler and national lead candidate Lena Schilling.

In total, more than 1100 delegates from all over Europe attended the congress in France. The Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya opened the congress on Friday with a speech in which she spoke about the defense of freedom and democracy, among other things. "It is important that the EU remains vigilant against internal and external threats to its core values."

Reintke and Eickhout elected
On Saturday, the lead candidates for the EU elections in the spring were elected. German MEP Terry Reintke and Dutch MEP Bas Eickhout were chosen. Reintke received 55.2 percent of the vote, Eickhout 57 percent. Reintke has been working for the Greens in Strasbourg since 2014 and was the youngest MEP at the age of 27. She has been co-chair of the group since 2022.

From the left: Terry Reintke and Bas Eickhout are running as a duo for the European Greens.(Bild: AFP)

Eickhout has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2009 and was co-leader of the European Greens five years ago. Traditionally, the Green duo has consisted of a woman and a man.

After the election, Reintke stated that the Greens would fight for freedom and against the climate crisis, among other things. "We will fight the fascists," promised Eickhout.

First official nominations
The Greens are the first party to officially nominate their leaders for the European elections in June 2024. Other parties will follow in the coming weeks: the Social Democrats on March 2, the European People's Party (EPP) on March 5 and 6 and the European Liberals on March 20. The European Left wants to decide on its leader as early as February 23 and 24, while conservative and right-wing populist parties are opposed to the concept in principle.

It is expected that EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will run for the EPP and Nicolas Schmidt for the Social Democrats.