Vienna — Austria’s opposition Green Party has launched a fierce attack on the governing coalition, accusing it of paralysis on key issues ranging from gun control and climate policy to childcare and the fight against inflation.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Green Party leader Leonore Gewessler said that after six months in office, the black-red-pink coalition had failed to move from promises to action. “In recent weeks and months, there have been grand announcements,” Gewessler declared, “but no serious draft laws to match. This is an ‘announcement world champion’ coalition.”
Instead of shrinking, the country’s problems have only grown under the current government, she argued. “Fires are burning everywhere, and this government prefers to paint a rosy picture rather than face reality,” Gewessler said. She singled out the promised tightening of gun laws as an example of words without deeds.
On climate policy, Gewessler was scathing, describing the newly surfaced draft of a climate law as “a climate policy bankruptcy.” She warned that delaying effective action would carry long-term costs not only for the environment but for Austria’s international credibility.
Inflation, she continued, had also been met with nothing but hollow statements. By letting effective measures from the previous government expire, the coalition was worsening the situation. On energy—the “true driver of prices”—Gewessler said the government’s electricity market reform was “on the wrong track.”
She also highlighted mounting frustration among citizens waiting in vain for a concrete draft of the promised “training leave” program. On childcare, too, Gewessler accused the coalition of complete inaction.
“The government’s job is to solve problems, not to deny them,” the Green leader concluded.
