You know what’s going on in front of it, so he wants to open the premises in the interests of transparency. That might be unusual, but “unusual” has become “normal”, said Van der Bellen.
Video (ORF): An excerpt of the speech in the “ZIB” at 5 p.m.:
Once again, the head of state drew the arc from domestic political crises such as the Ibiza scandal and chat affair to global crises from pandemics, Ukraine war, climate emergency to inflation and the energy crisis. “All of these things happen almost simultaneously and you inevitably ask yourself, ‘Can this all stop now, please?'” The world has become more unstable, times more turbulent. He tried to convey confidence. “When the outside seems increasingly erratic and unpredictable, we need a strong inner compass.” Principles according to which everyone can act together. Article 1 of human rights is central here, according to which every human being has equal rights.
“In order for our democracy and our rule of law to remain intact, we need politicians of integrity,” Van der Bellen indirectly referred to the recent corruption scandals. “They always have to act for the benefit of the population, never for their own benefit or for the benefit of their own cliques,” he found in clear words. The population needs guarantees and correspondingly strict rules and laws. He never tires of demanding this.
In his speech, Van der Bellen committed to neutrality and also called for solidarity with regard to the climate crisis. “This solidarity must also apply to those who are not yet born but will come after us. One must also think of the children and leave them a planet that can continue to be a home. There is no big, simple answer to climate change that solves everything, said the Federal President. There can only ever be one step towards the solution.
Finally, Van der Bellen called for a willingness to learn and to supplement old knowledge with newer ones. He doesn’t want to preach, he said, but: “If we uphold these principles and orient ourselves to them, if we all stick to these principles together, then we are resilient as a community and can do anything.”
Source: Nachrichten
