Politics in Austria: Satire helps to come to terms with it – politics

The quote is attributed to the great Austrian philosopher Toni Polster, saying that you have to walk through valleys in order to be able to climb mountains. One can therefore expect that the country’s moral standards and international reputation will soon experience an unprecedented soaring – because at the moment we are clearly quite deep in the valley.

Two weeks after the resignation of Sebastian Kurz, the nefariousness of “Basti Fantasti” and his clique still leaves many speechless. Manipulated opinion polls, corrupted media – the allegations in the room document an adventurous contempt for one’s own electorate. If you have time on the weekend, I recommend “Wag the Dog”, a bitter satire about political staging from 1997: One must assume that the Kurz’sche Buberlpartie somehow misunderstood this film as a guide. My colleague Tanja Rest has in her text “The Buberl Connections” (SZ Plus) Thought about men and power.

But there are also things that brighten the situation. No, the new Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg, who has so far confused his office with the chairmanship of the short fan club, is not one of them. But the Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen does. He navigates the country through all government crises with calm and wit.

That was already the case after the release of the Ibiza video in May 2019, which is now the focus of a series on Sky: “The Ibiza Affair”. My colleagues Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer remember their text “Seven hours under high tension” of the time you saw the video for the first time.

But more importantly, one of Austria’s greatest qualities is its inextinguishable love of the bizarre, the ability to appreciate the comedy of the situation in any situation. So there is no need to worry that the country could mop up when it comes to the national holiday inventory next Tuesday given the quality of its political staff, on the contrary.

Rather, it is an opportunity to watch the legendary video by Christiane Hörbiger, with which the actress once supported Sebastian Kurz and the colleagues from courier saved from digital oblivion: “How happy we were when you became Chancellor”, whistles the Hörbiger, “the whole country has somehow changed for the better.”

What can I say? In Austria one always judges life first by its satirical quality, and in this respect the times are downright excellent.

This column will also appear in the Austria Newsletter on October 22, 2021, which will be reporting on Austria in the Süddeutsche Zeitung bundles. Register here for free.

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