A quiet revolution sweeps Europe as Greens become a political force
Unexpected success in the EU elections has turned the erstwhile ‘fringe idealists’ into potential kingmakers in Brussels
On election day in three European capitals at the end of May, voters swept an insurgent party to the top of the polls for the new European parliament.
But, contrary to widespread media speculation in the run-up to the poll, it was not the far-right populists who triumphed at the ballot box in Brussels, Berlin and Dublin.
Instead, in all these cities Green parties won the highest number of votes, spearheading a continent-wide surge that looks likely to transform their political role within Europe.
Coming top of the polls felt “alien” to Dublin’s new MEP Ciarán Cuffe, the first Green party representative the city has sent to Europe in two decades. “I was
