Twenty Years
of European Greens
1984 - 2004
edited by Arnold Cassola & Per Gahrton
Ivan Blokov St. Petersburg Greens
- EFGP Delegate to Vienna 1994
I very clearly remember the Vienna meeting and the voting on the Saint-Petersburg membership in the Federation. Although there was a certain commitment on the part of several member parties that they would support our membership bid, there was still a strong feeling of fear that we might not be accepted. Ours was quite a unique situation since we were a regional party that came from a country that was not too “well - felt” by the majority of representatives of the Western European Green Parties.
However, since the result proved to be a real victory for my party, I was proud that we finally got the result we had hoped for. And it was not a personal result - it was a real recognition that it was possible to create a real Green Party even under difficult conditions within a State that had just come out of long years of Communist rule. It was a result that appreciated the fact that it was possible to attract people to Green ideas. It was seen not only as a sign of recognition but also as some kind of invitation to work more and get even better results in the future.
Although a lot of words here express personal feelings and not dry facts, the whole issue of EFGP membership was also a result of very serious (and long) work. Definitely, there was also a certain political context within that decision - but that is an essential part of all politics.
The whole situation has changed drastically since those times. Russian people are less and less interested in Green issues as well as in the Environment. The drastic decrease of awareness was mainly caused by the bad economic situation and the very high level of criminality and corruption. Due to all this, Greens are seriously losing their public profile and the results attained to date are poor.
At the same time, Green issues are getting closer and closer to the common people. The growth of public interest and an incredible mistrust in the authorities at all levels provide the greens with a real chance to regain and improve on their positions. It is a real challenge for the Greens in Russia now - to take advantage of the moment and to become again a real player on the political scene.
