Twenty Years of European Greens
1984 - 2004
edited by Arnold Cassola & Per Gahrton
Alvaro Martinez Sevilla
Los Verdes (Spain)
- EGC delegate in Majvik, Finland 1993
Majvik (Finland) 1993. In the giant Hotel gym next to a lake, a delightful venue, the meeting of European Green Parties meant the beginning of a formidable challenge. The challenge of moving from national politics to a co-ordination of European policy. There was the ferment of the great strength of the most coherent pro-European force that exists.
From then until today we have come a long way. In Berlin (May 2002), at the IV congress of the EFGP, one could appreciate how far some parties have progressed. From Helmut Lippelt, (who represented Die Grünen in Majvik) to the 3 ministers of the present Federal Government. Also in Belgium, Ecolo and Agalev, passed through this partial metamorphosis. Others experienced government power but didn’t stay so long, as in France, Italy and Finland, where for reasons of coalitions on ethical reasons, they returned to the opposition. And others grew stronger little by little and are awaiting their moment, like GroenLinks in the Netherlands or Comhaontas Glas in Ireland, where my Majvik companions Joost Lagendijk and Patricia McKenna are still going strong.
Some move on and others remain. Juan Behrend, the same cool blue background that has provided since there tranquillity to the Green Group in Strasbourg. There in Majvik, during long sessions in the enormous gym and a few hours of relaxation in the forest, the sauna or the lake, we laid the foundation of what today is (or soon will be) the third European political force and we begin to envision the need of coalitions and social contracts in order to put into practice our green project. We learned to respect each other in the great diversity of cultures and social forms that exist from Algeciras to the North Cape.
Today, that European Federation of Green Parties of ten years ago is on the way to become the European Green Party, without a doubt an important step forward, just as the recent development of Greens in North and South America, Africa and Australia. For all these reasons, maybe the time has come to look for a bigger, but equally pleasant, gym, where we can start emerging as an international political movement.
