Political rollercoaster

A green journey through seven confounded years

(Bild: Markus Wenzel, Klemens Groh, APA/Eva Manhart, Martin Jöchl, APA/Georg Hochmuth)

To mark this year's National Council elections, the "Krone" is taking a closer look at all parties in a special digital format. This time, the focus is on the Greens. From being "kicked out" of parliament to becoming a governing party at federal level. From the Greens' perspective, the past seven years have been a political rollercoaster ride. The "Krone" looks back - and ahead.

For the first time in years, no high-ranking politician in Austria resigned in May 2024. In previous years, things looked very different. Especially in 2017, when Reinhold Mitterlehner announced his resignation as leader of the ÖVP, his successor Sebastian Kurz took over and immediately called new elections and - surprisingly for many - the then leader of the Greens, Eva Glawischnig, also stepped down. By this point at the latest, it was clear to many political observers what, from the Greens' point of view, would result in a political meltdown just a few months later.