LISBON ― When Green politicians from across Europe gather in sunlit Lisbon this weekend, they won’t be sharing a moment of triumph ― but one of frustration and division.
With climate no longer at the forefront of policymakers’ minds as it was before the Covid pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine hit the economy and altered priorities, the Greens are trying to figure out whether to keep their wagon hitched to the now less-green-friendly European People’s Party ― or if they should distance themselves.
For some in the Greens’ ranks, the party of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is close to toxic. In Lisbon they aim to declare the EPP as enemy No. 1.
But not all agree. Others say the priority is to keep pushing through laws linked to last term’s Green Deal by continuing to team up with the center-right group, even though that would mean making concessions ― and holding their nose whenever the EPP allies with far-right groups.
