75,000 preferential votes

Green surprise Waitz: “I’m not a climate activist”

Thomas Waitz will be a Member of the EU Parliament for another five years.(Bild: Europäisches Parlament/Mathieu Cugnot)

He was probably the surprise of the EU elections: Green organic farmer Thomas Waitz won 75,000 preferential votes, clearly outperforming top candidate Lena Schilling. In this interview, he explains why the role of the head of delegation is overrated, why he understands the frustration of FPÖ voters and why he is only an unskilled worker on his own farm.

"Krone": Mr. Waitz, you received 75,000 preferential votes in the EU elections, only Harald Vilimsky (FPÖ) received more. Did the result come as a surprise to you?
Thomas Waitz: Ialready sensed in the last two weeks of the election campaign that I would get a lot of preferential votes. But I was also surprised that it was so many in the end. I see it as great appreciation for my many years of commitment.