German Green Party

Die Grünen, the Green Party is a political party in Germany.

In the late 1970s, environmentalists organized politically as the Greens. Opposition to expanded use of nuclear power, to NATO strategy, and to certain aspects of highly industrialized society were principal campaign issues. The party first won seats in the Bundestag, the German parliament, in 1982. The Greens received 8.3% of the vote in the January 1987 West German national election. However, in the December 1990 all-German elections, the Greens in western Germany were not able to clear the 5% hurdle required to win seats in the Bundestag. It was only in the territory of the former GDR that the Greens, in a merger with Alliance 90 (a loose grouping civil rights activists with diverse political views), were able to clear the 5% hurdle and win Bundestag seats. In 1994, Greens from East and West returned to the Bundestag with 7.3% and 49 seats. In 1998, despite a slight fall in percentage of the vote (6.7%), the Greens retained 47 seats and joined the federal government for the first time in coalition with the Social Democrats. [Joschka Fischer]? became vice chancellor and foreign minister in the new government, which has two other Greens ministers.

There have been some criticims of the party since it has come to power that it has abandoned its ideology. For example, when allowing the transport of nuclear waste or encouraging the use of German troops in the 2001 U.S. Attack on Afghanistan.

See also: Germany/Politics

Official Homepage: http://www.gruene.de/