On Thursday, the Federal President went to Salzburg. With the “Krone” he spoke about hate, crisis, the work of the government and his opponent Marco Pogo.
For the second time in two weeks, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen was in Salzburg on Thursday. While he was collecting declarations of support on the Schranne in the morning, Salzburg AG boss Leonhard Schitter later presented him with hard facts about the energy crisis. In between, he visited the “Krone” editorial office, where he answered questions. “Krone”: At a festival performance two weeks ago, demonstrators brought a gallows with a dedication to politics. What did that trigger in you?Alexander Van der Bellen: It triggered a mixture of bewilderment and horror. When you carry a gallows like this, you want to hang someone. This is a transgression that is not allowed. And I don’t think we should just accept that. A lot of hate spills out at you. What does that do to you? You have to protect yourself. If only by not reading it. But I don’t think I’m one of the most hated people, because of the pandemic, that affects the health ministers or a state governor more. People have definitely gone too far there. You don’t stand in front of a politician’s house and molest the family – the wife and children. So I’m comparatively privileged. Do you think the government is as bad as we do? (laughs) No, that’s not my job. The Federal President is a bit more distant. I try to understand what the main problem areas are and what is planned. But I can remember thinking to myself a few times: “These are good ideas, why don’t you sell them better?” It’s partly down to communication. For example, there is a €28 billion package of measures to cushion inflation that is benefiting the people. But it is difficult to understand what will come into force and where and which applications have to be submitted. They should have sold it differently. So that people can see and understand that something is happening. How well prepared are we for the fall, including the pandemic, energy crisis and inflation? Basically okay. We’ll get over it, we’ll come up with something. I try to describe the situation realistically, but not to spread panic and also not to take away people’s confidence. It’s going to be tough, let’s face it. But we’ll deal with it and we mustn’t lose heart.Would you go for a beer with Marco Pogo? What would you chat about? Of course I would have a beer with Marco Pogo. I appreciate him as a musician, he has ideas and is funny. I just didn’t understand why he wants to become Federal President, because that has nothing to do with it. He studied medicine. I would like to ask him when he decided not to practice this profession but the other one. After all, he had two paths in life open to him. Of course, this is always a very personal decision. At the time, it was curiosity for me.
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