“Let’s tackle this, dear friends!” Leonore Gewessler told the Austrian Greens on June 29, 2025, minutes after delegates in Vienna made her the party’s new federal spokeswoman. She took 96.76% of the vote. Nobody ran against her.
Gewessler takes over from Werner Kogler, who had led the Greens since 2017. Her term runs three years. She first entered federal politics in 2019 and built her profile in the climate, energy and transport portfolios of the previous coalition government. She is now the former climate protection minister, and the party she inherits sits in opposition. The congress used the moment to abolish the post of secretary-general.
A tone of hope
Her acceptance speech was short on triumph. “I accept the election with great anticipation and respect,” she said, and she stressed that the job “can only be achieved as a team.” She wants to listen to voters, she said, not hand them ready-made answers.
She was blunt about the years behind her. The party, she said, had “burned ourselves out facing three great crises”, which she listed as Corona, war and the Sebastian Kurz era. Her pitch for what comes next: “I want people to come to us with hope, not fear.”
Kogler, stepping aside, gave her his endorsement. “I am convinced…that it will work very, very well with you at the helm,” he said.
Budget and gas
Gewessler used the stage to go after the government’s budget. It reaches “deeply” into the pockets of children and grandchildren, she argued, while climate funding is trimmed and highway projects get generous money. On energy she was just as direct. “Independence from Russian gas means independence from Vladimir Putin,” she said, adding that this independence brings the economy security and stability.
She also drew a line against the far-right FPÖ. The two parties, she said, hold “completely opposite worldviews.”
The congress filled out the rest of the leadership team as well. Helga Krismer, Barbara Neßler, Alma Zadić, Peter Kraus and Stefan Kaineder joined the board, and Bernhard Seitz was elected finance director.
Her promise to the delegates was a plain one: the Greens, she said, “stand firm on climate protection.”
Sources
- Leonore Gewessler Elected Greens Federal Spokeswoman
- Gewessler mit 96,76 Prozent zur Grünen-Chefin gewählt
- Grüne wählen Gewessler zur Bundessprecherin
