The Green Alternative (, ; ZA), later Green Alternative – Alliance of Greens in Hungary, was a

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

political party in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

between 1993 and 2000.

History

Following the radical right-wing ideological turnout within the

Green Party of Hungary The Greens, the Party of Normal People (; ZÖLDEK), also commonly referred to by its shortened form, the Green Party, is the first green political party in Hungary and also in post-communist countries, formed on 19 November 1989 following the en ...

(MZP), several environmentalist members decided to left the party and establish the Green Alternative in June 1993 during their first congress at the University of Horticulture (today a faculty within the

Corvinus University of Budapest Corvinus University of Budapest () is a private university, private research university in Budapest, Hungary. The university currently has an enrolment of approximately 9,600 students, with a primary focus on business administration, economics, ...

). The congress elected

György Droppa György Droppa (born 17 September 1947) is a Hungary, Hungarian environmentalist, politician and economist, who served as leader of several extra-parliamentary green political parties since the 1990s. Early life After finishing university studie ...

(a former

Duna Kör Duna Kör () is a Hungarian environmental organization founded in 1984 as a protest body to prevent the construction of the Gabčíkovo – Nagymaros Dams. Opponents of the dam argued that it would create an environmental disaster that would displac ...

and

SZDSZ The Alliance of Free Democrats – Hungarian Liberal Party (, , SZDSZ ) was a liberal political party in Hungary. The SZDSZ was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and of Liberal International. It drew its su ...

member) and

Erzsébet Schmuck Erzsébet Schmuck (born 19 February 1954) is a Hungarian environmentalist, economist and politician. She was a member of the National Assembly (MP) from the LMP – Hungary's Green Party (Greens) National List from 2014 to 2022. She was elected ...

(a former

KISZ The Hungarian Young Communist League (, KISZ) was a communist youth movement in the Hungarian People's Republic that was attached to the ruling Socialist Workers' Party. History It was founded on 21 March 1957 (on the anniversary of the Hungarian ...

member) as co-presidents. In January 1994, MDF politician and MP Károly Jávor (father of MEP

Benedek Jávor Benedek Jávor (born 2 July 1972) is a Hungarian politician and a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2014 to 2019. He is a member of Dialogue for Hungary, part of the European Green Party. Biography He finished his secondary s ...

) joined the ZA, providing parliamentary representation for the party for few months until the 1994 parliamentary election, when ZA received only 0.02 percent of the votes. In the second round, ZA entered into an electoral alliance with the

Agrarian Alliance The Agrarian Alliance – National Agrarian Party (, ASZ) was a political party in Hungary. History The alliance was formed in December 1989. In the March 1990 elections it ran alone in some constituencies, and in alliances with the Alliance f ...

(ASZ), but did not gain any individual seats. In the forthcoming years, the Green Alternative protested against the constructions of

Gabčíkovo–Nagymaros Dams The Gabčíkovo–Nagymaros Dams (more precisely ''Gabčíkovo–Nagymaros Waterworks'', , ''Slovak language, Slovak: Sústava vodných diel Gabčíkovo – Nagymaros'') is a large barrage project on the Danube. It was initiated by the Budapes ...

, a landfill in

Pécel Pécel is a town in Pest county, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary. It is situated outside Budapest's 17th district a little over from Budapest city centre. Notable people * Gedeon Ráday, soldier and politician, Minister of Defence *István S ...

and the operations of the uranium mine in

Pécs Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...

, the alumina plant in

Lábatlan Lábatlan () is a town in Komárom-Esztergom county, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Roma ...

and the

Paks Nuclear Power Plant The Paks Nuclear Power Plant () is located from the small town of Paks, central Hungary, 100km southwest of Budapest on the shores of the Danube river. It is the first and only operating nuclear power station in Hungary. In 2019, its four rea ...

. In September 1997, it joined the electoral alliance Union for Hungary, dominated by the Republican Party, however they received only 0.19 percent of the votes in the 1998 parliamentary election. The coalition broke up after that. Erzsébet Schmuck left the party on 21 June 1998, she was replaced by Márta Márczis (mother of Benedek Jávor) as co-president. On 3 June 2000, the ZA merged with the Social Democracy 2000 Foundation to form the

Alliance of Green Democrats The Alliance of Green Democrats (, ; ZDSZ), was a green political party in Hungary between 2000 and 2009. History It was established by the merger of Green Alternative (ZA), Social Democracy 2000 Foundation (SD2000) and the Social Democrat Youth ...

(ZDSZ).

International relations

In January 1994, the ZA was admitted into the

European Federation of Green Parties The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is a transnational, European political party representing national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–Eur ...

, which established under this name few months earlier. György Droppa was also elected to the European political party's leadership. In that capacity, Droppa established a good relationship with the

GreenLeft (, ; GL) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the ...

, a prominent Dutch member of the federation.

Election results

National Assembly

References

Sources

External links

Zöldpártok Magyarországon - Örök ígéretek
{{Hungarian political parties Green political parties in Hungary Political parties established in 1993 Political parties disestablished in 2000 1993 establishments in Hungary 2000 disestablishments in Hungary Defunct political parties in Hungary