Show caption Young supporters of the European Greens in Berlin cheer exit poll results indicating 22% of the vote on 26 May. Photograph: Adam Berry/Getty Images Green party 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 Emma Graham-Harrison Sun 2 Jun 2019 04.00 EDT Share on Facebook

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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 so heartened by the support for green issues,” he said.

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The Greens are part of a cohesive and powerful bloc in a newly fractured European parliament in a grouping with progressive regional and “pirate” parties of the European Free Alliance, together holding nearly 10% of votes. Two centrist groupings – broadly conservative and social democrat – had between them controlled the parliament since it was formed, but their stranglehold has been broken. They will now need support from other blocs to pass legislation and appoint the powerful commissioners and other top posts. Four big jobs are vacant: the presidencies of the European commission, the European council and the European Central Bank, as well as the high representative for foreign policy.

“Greens could be kingmakers in the decision process,” said Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform thinktank.

They have already had an impact on the race to replace commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, she added, by making it clear that they will only support a candidate who backs their agenda. “What you see is that all of the hopefuls are becoming more green.” .

Although populist, far-right and anti-European parties together hold slightly more seats, they are a far less united group, divided over everything from their views on Russian president Vladimir Putin to LGBT rights and the handling of asylum cases.

The Greens, in contrast, are united, disciplined and hold voting power that is largely Brexit-proof. Although Britain was among the countries where they did well, if the UK does leave the EU the party’s proportion of votes will remain almost unchanged.

The ability to influence the leadership of the EU marks a dramatic turnaround. Just a couple of years ago, polling suggested the Greens were likely to lose around half their seats in Brussels. Instead they grew by nearly half.

Once seen as fringe idealists –impractical and economically reckless – years as part of national and local coalitions in several countries, most prominently Germany, have given the Greens credibility as a party of government, and not just a home for discontented protest voters. And more recently they have consolidated a manifesto that puts social justice and human rights at the heart of the fight for the planet, drawing in voters disillusioned with mainstream centre-left parties.

Ciaran Cuffe celebrates with family and party members as he takes the Greens’ first seat for Dublin. Photograph: Cate McCurry/PA

“We are very happy about it but it also leaves us with a lot of responsibility; people didn’t vote for us just as a protest – it’s for policy,” said Terry Reintke, a German Green MEP, who described the surge as a “green wave”. “Obviously the climate crisis is going to be a priority, particularly because the window for action is very very short. But it’s too narrow an analysis to say the support was only because of that. People also voted for us in large numbers because we are also a very credible party on democracy, rule of law and human rights.

“We see the European Union as not just an economic union but a union of values. It has to be more equal and socially just. This will be a priority for us in negotiations.”

On Saturday, for the first time in German history, a poll put the Greens ahead of all other parties, with 27% of the vote. Angela Merkel’s CDU was on 26%, the Social Democrats (SPD) on 12% and the far-right AfD on 11%.

The European greens don’t have a charismatic star to match the US Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has put a “Green New Deal” at the heart of her political plan for the US economy. But they have benefited from the growing civil protest movement, including school strikes led by the Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, and in the UK, the Extinction Rebellion movement.

The profile of their voters means that influence is only likely to grow. Young people skewed heavily towards Green parties across countries where they did well. “Six months or a year ago, we were predicted to lose seats as a movement. But since last autumn there has been an increased focus on global climate issues, which found their way into the public consciousness and hearts and minds particularly of young people,” Cuffe said.

“Even if they were not voting themselves, they communicated to parents and grandparents. People told me personally in the last few weeks that they were voting Green because their children asked them to. That’s something we hadn’t seen before.”

It was not a pan-European surge. In Hungary and Austria, Green parties lost seats, and the vast majority of its MEPs come from the north and the west, with some outliers including an unexpected victory in Portugal, a lone Lithuanian, and three “pirates” from the Czech Republic in the alliance.

German Greens’ candidates Sven Giegold, left, Annalena Baerbock and Katrin Goering-Eckardt cheer their party’s success. Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images

“[The Greens] did well in western Europe, particularly Germany, France, the UK and Ireland. But they are not a European-wide phenomenon like the populists are, they don’t really exist in central and eastern Europe,” said Sara Hobolt, professor of European politics at the London School of Economics.

Although environmental protesters played a large role in many of the democracy movements that helped end Soviet rule across eastern Europe, that activism was never converted into success at the ballot box.

Eastern European groups are among the 30 national parties that make up the European Green party, and allies in the west hope they can help them and boost the group overall. “We do actually have member parties in most member states, but they don’t get over the threshold [to win seats],” Reintke said of eastern European Greens. “In coming years we will focus on how we can strengthen the parties.”

One thing likely to help the Greens is the growing awareness of the climate crisis. “Green issues are unlikely to go away; they clearly have credibility on this,” said Hobolt. “Going forward, I don’t think they are going to be a diminished group.”