VIENNA ¨C Two days after rallying 7 million protesters across the world by invoking the threat of climate change, Greta Thunberg got credit for motivating voters to re-draw the political landscape in Austria.
After being frozen out of Parliament just two years ago, the Alpine country¡¯s Greens unexpectedly tripled their support in Sunday¡¯s election to win 14 percent of the vote, according to preliminary projections. The result sets up the group as a viable coalition partner for Sebastian Kurz¡¯s People¡¯s Party and shows how environmental concerns are moving to the top of the political agenda in Europe.
¡°The thematic development really helped the Greens, I¡¯m thinking here of Greta Thunberg and the climate protests,¡± said the Social Democrat¡¯s managing director Thomas Drozda in an ORF television interview conceding defeat. ¡°This is an area where the Greens have had credibility for the last 20 or 25 years.¡±
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