Nehammer rages against minister
Austria’s Chancellor advises Germany against black-green coalition
By Wolfram Weimer
19.06.2024, 08:31 a.m.
Scandal in Austria’s government: The Green climate minister votes against her own chancellor in Brussels. He now wants to have the law overturned in court, and his party is filing a criminal complaint. He is issuing a warning to the Germans.
Austria has slipped into a serious government crisis three months before new elections. Chancellor Karl Nehammer of the ÖVP accuses the Green Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler of “violating the law” and “seriously breaching trust” because of her unauthorized approval of the controversial EU renaturation law.
Nevertheless, Nehmer is avoiding breaking up the coalition so shortly before elections, which are already scheduled. “I don’t want the country to sink into chaos,” he said on Tuesday evening in the Chancellery in Vienna at a meeting with top business representatives from Austria and Germany. The right-wing populist FPÖ, which became the strongest force in Austria in the European elections, meanwhile announced a motion of no confidence against the minister. Party leader Herbert Kickl was outraged at an “unprecedented betrayal of Austrian farmers.”
Nehammer may be sticking to the state’s interests, but his anger at the Greens is enormous. At the end of their coalition period, the Greens would show their “true face” and put “ideology above the constitution.” Nehmer is having an appeal for annulment examined by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in order to “redress this injustice.” The ÖVP also wants to sue Gewessler.
Comparison with climate adhesives
The Chancellor linked the Green minister’s behavior to climate stickers. It is a problem for democracy if small groups and minorities ignore the law by citing a higher morality. The Greens would discredit themselves as coalition partners for the future.
When asked what he would recommend to the CDU in Germany in view of the 2025 federal election based on his experience, Nehammer said: “I cannot recommend a black-green coalition for Germany.” He justified this with a deep disagreement in the political culture between the conservatives and the Greens. “The Greens pursue politics out of a feeling of moral superiority.” This is difficult to bear for a pragmatic centrist policy.
The head of government criticized his coalition partner so openly because regular parliamentary elections are taking place in Austria on September 29 anyway. A repeat of the black-green coalition is then very unlikely. On the one hand, according to all surveys, there will no longer be enough for a black-green majority. On the other hand, the relationship between the ÖVP and the Greens is strained.