On Saturday, the Greens elected 23-year-old environmental activist and “Krone” columnist Lena Schilling as the EU’s top candidate by an overwhelming majority. In her speech before the elections, Schilling again positioned herself as a candidate “for the climate and against the right.”
Schilling emphasized in her speech to the approximately 250 delegates that she is not just taking a step into politics now, because as an activist she has already participated in politics with ‘Fridays for Future’ and ‘Lobau Stays’, from the street. “Every citizen’s initiative, every protest – it is all political. And that is exactly where I come from: from civil society, from the climate movement. And I would like to see this represented more strongly in the European Parliament,” Schilling explains. She argued in her candidacy that the Greens were the only party that could be trusted for climate protection.
“Climate catastrophe as a historic challenge”
The climate catastrophe is “a historic challenge,” Schilling said. For example, we are currently living through the greatest extinction of species since the age of dinosaurs. She called the fact that Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) had illustrated the mobility section of his plan for Austria with a four-lane highway “insanely cynical.”
But the climate issue is also “the social issue of our time,” because the people with the least money, those least able to help, are hit hardest by the climate crisis. The richest ten percent caused more than half of greenhouse gas emissions, according to Schilling. “The problem is not the family holiday in Italy. The problem is the private jet.” Schilling was convinced that he was in the right place to make groundbreaking decisions in the EU Parliament.
Schilling clear against Kickl
Schilling identified the right as the second threat to be countered. FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl talked about wanted lists on which he wanted to write political opponents, and she wondered what that would lead to: would they be silenced, imprisoned or deported, Schilling asked.
For years, people said “never again” and now it got serious, Schilling said. We had to defend ourselves and be loud. Because Kickl, “his friends in the AfD and his comrades in the Identitarians” threatened the common Europe. The speech was clearly well received by the delegates, as Schilling received a standing ovation and much applause.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
