It was our great honour to be elected as co-chairs of the European Green Party in Dublin at the EGP congress. It was a key milestone as the first big meeting of our political family after the European elections. A new Committee was elected, we agreed several joint resolutions and we welcomed our newest member party: Zeleno-levi Front from Serbia!
While the wind of Storm Darragh howled outside, we gathered indoors to hear inspiring speeches and discuss the challenges and opportunities for the European Greens in the months ahead. The good news? We’ve made important progress in recent years on climate action, biodiversity protection and social justice. The bad news? There are many groups actively campaigning against green progress in many areas. As former European Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius MEP said, we represent the jobs and the industries of the future, not the past.
2025 will be an election year in many European countries, including Germany this February. This means that there is a lot of hard work to be done to communicate the green message to our citizens and to work for electoral success. Whether it is advocating for human rights in conflict zones, for democracies under threat from the far right, or raising our ambition on climate goals or fighting inequalities, we will keep our efforts up to strengthen our alliances with civil society and other stakeholders.
We need to provide practical solutions that make a positive change in people’s lives and communicate effectively about them. So many people are struggling with high energy bills, a lack of quality housing and a cost-of-living crisis.
As a desperate war continues to ravage Gaza, we insist on the respect for international law and promote a peace process starting with a ceasefire. In Ukraine, with the incoming Trump Presidency threatening prospects of a just peace, we continue to stand without ambiguity in support of Ukrainians.
As some political parties pivot to the right, we will continue to be a voice of reason with solutions to today’s challenges. We want to work closely on the future of Europe, trade, foreign and security policy, youth, trans-inclusive feminism and other key areas. Over the coming months, we want will meet with our member parties on the ground and work with them to develop a joint vision and strategy for the coming years, in order to stengthen their voice as part of European Green family. We especially want to continue to support our younger parties as they look forward to greater electoral successes.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the previous EGP Committee and in particular our predecessors Mélanie Vogel and Thomas Waitz, for their leadership in the joint European elections campaign and in the EGP enlargement process . We are sure that the newly elected Committee – which has been extended to now include 13 (rather than 9) very competent and motivated members from all corners of Europe – will continue to work with the same enthusiasm and ambition in the years to come!
In the meantime, we hope you enjoy time with your friends and family over the holiday period, and we look forward to working with you all in the year ahead.
Vula Tsetsi and Ciarán Cuffe
