Social Europe

politics, economy and employment & labour

  • Themes
    • Global cities
    • Strategic autonomy
    • War in Ukraine
    • European digital sphere
    • Recovery and resilience
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Dossiers
    • Occasional Papers
    • Research Essays
    • Brexit Paper Series
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

Kurz’s sneaky trip to Italy

Alessio Colonnelli 18th September 2018

Alessio Colonnelli

Alessio Colonnelli

Sebastian Kurz was in Italy recently (Friday 14/09) to attend a large political event. Three out of the four local daily newspapers in the area did not bother announcing the arrival of the Austrian chancellor. Even stranger, none of Italy’s national media signalled, however briefly, the visit of a rather controversial head of government, from a neighbouring country. Why? (Especially as Matteo Salvini, Lega leader and Italian interior minister, was openly in Vienna the following day).

Kurz is at the helm of a centre-right executive with a very strong far-right slant. Vienna is close to the Visegrád group, that widely known cluster of countries lobbying hard to destabilise the European Union. To top it all, Austria’s foreign minister invited Vladimir Putin to her wedding recently. There’s no doubting in which direction the political breeze is blowing over Vienna.

svp e1537186816154

Not only did Kurz come unannounced, the venue in Bozen/Bolzano also looked very inconspicuous and secretive – a building site surrounded by industrial estates. Two vertical flags – but no lettering whatsoever – mark the SVP congress on the outside and nothing else.

Kurz came to Bozen/Bolzano – South Tyrol’s capital, Italy’s final city before you enter Austria – to deliver a speech at the annual congress of the South Tyrolean People’s Party (SVP). The conservative politician remarked on “the outstanding economic data of South Tyrol, both in terms of economic growth and full employment. Although unemployment is declining in Austria, we still envy South Tyrol’s figures [2.9 percent]. [Your region] has a big tourist industry, a strong economy and high quality of life. One of the reasons behind this is SVP‘s work and that of Governor [Arno] Kompatscher.”


Become part of our Community of Thought Leaders


Get fresh perspectives delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for our newsletter to receive thought-provoking opinion articles and expert analysis on the most pressing political, economic and social issues of our time. Join our community of engaged readers and be a part of the conversation.

Sign up here

On the face of it, the SVP has put a lot of emphasis on European values – on bridges rather than walls. Yesterday, it pledged to continue to do so. This officially triggered the electoral campaign for the local parliament election this autumn. (South Tyrol is an autonomous region.)

Therefore, it strikes one as odd that Kurz was invited to such an important event. In fact, Kurz has time and again offered German-speaking South Tyroleans an Austrian passport. These make up 69 percent of the population. The rest are excluded from the offer, meaning that his is an inflamatory proposal in an ethnically divided territory. Kurz likes acting in the nationalistic fashion of Viktor Orbán. Not very European, so to speak.

So, the only newspaper that reported on Kurz‘s visit was Corriere dell’Alto Adige. An editorial by Toni Visentini strongly implied that the politics pursued by Kurz – as well as SVP, by association – pursue a type of Europe where it is OK to say “’Austrians first’, ‘Italians first’, ‘Britain first’, in a context where everyone is free to suddenly say no to commonly agreed rules because one doesn’t like them anymore.” In the same vein, Visentini, a prominent local journalist, also said that “[Vladimir] Putin and [Donald] Trump … do not want a strong and united Continent but would rather deal with many small, disjointed countries – weaker ones. [Europe] is at the risk of imploding from within at the hand of their allies, of whom there are already many in sundry countries.”

You could argue that by openly flirting with the current Viennese government, you are implicitly supporting wider policies which put a lot pressure on Europe. Why one should do so from the very heart of it, right from the middle of the Alps (offering in theory an all-encompassing view on things) is suspicious to say the least, especially at a time of such unusual prosperity. But obviously the bigger fish sometimes need the help of keen, smaller fish too. Keeping this to themselves and not telling anybody else is part of their game.

Thankfully, conscientious reporters doing their job properly are still on the scene. Yet, the bigger question remains: why all this secrecy? To paraphrase America – in open information we trust.

First published on the author’s site and reproduced with permission. Image by the author.

 

Alessio Colonnelli

Alessio Colonnelli is a freelance writer on Europe; minority rights and regional autonomies; political dissent; and the state of social democracy.


Support Progressive Ideas: Become a Social Europe Member!


Support independent publishing and progressive ideas by becoming a Social Europe member for less than 5 Euro per month. You can help us create more high-quality articles, podcasts and videos that challenge conventional thinking and foster a more informed and democratic society. Join us in our mission - your support makes all the difference!

Become a Social Europe Member

You are here: Home / Politics / Kurz’s sneaky trip to Italy

Most Popular Posts

Ukraine,fatigue Ukraine’s cause: momentum is diminishingStefan Wolff and Tetyana Malyarenko
Russia,information war Russia is winning the information warAiste Merfeldaite
Nanterre,police Nanterre and the suburbs: the lid comes offJoseph Downing
Russia,nuclear Russia’s dangerous nuclear consensusAna Palacio
Belarus,Lithuania A tale of two countries: Belarus and LithuaniaThorvaldur Gylfason and Eduard Hochreiter

Most Recent Posts

G7,BRICS,China,Russia G7 versus the BRICS: taking stock in 12 figuresThorvaldur Gylfason
solar energy,photovoltaic,Europe,EU,PV Powering up: the EU and solar energyFrancesco Crespi, Dario Guarascio, Serenella Caravella and Giacomo Cucignatto
Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh: it’s not over yetSvante Lundgren
Sweden,climate,green Sweden’s climate policy—off the railsLisa Pelling
Biden,Detroit,UAW,strike Detroit, Joe Biden and a union renaissancePaul Knott

Other Social Europe Publications

strategic autonomy Strategic autonomy
Bildschirmfoto 2023 05 08 um 21.36.25 scaled 1 RE No. 13: Failed Market Approaches to Long-Term Care
front cover Towards a social-democratic century?
Cover e1655225066994 National recovery and resilience plans
Untitled design The transatlantic relationship

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

The summer issue of the Progressive Post magazine by FEPS is out!

The Special Coverage of this new edition is dedicated to the importance of biodiversity, not only as a good in itself but also for the very existence of humankind. We need a paradigm change in the mostly utilitarian relation humans have with nature.

In this issue, we also look at the hazards of unregulated artificial intelligence, explore the shortcomings of the EU's approach to migration and asylum management, and analyse the social downside of the EU's current ethnically-focused Roma policy.


DOWNLOAD HERE

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI European Collective Bargaining Report 2022 / 2023

With real wages falling by 4 per cent in 2022, workers in the European Union suffered an unprecedented loss in purchasing power. The reason for this was the rapid increase in consumer prices, behind which nominal wage growth fell significantly. Meanwhile, inflation is no longer driven by energy import prices, but by domestic factors. The increased profit margins of companies are a major reason for persistent inflation. In this difficult environment, trade unions are faced with the challenge of securing real wages—and companies have the responsibility of making their contribution to returning to the path of political stability by reducing excess profits.


DOWNLOAD HERE

ETUI advertisement

The future of remote work

The 12 chapters collected in this volume provide a multidisciplinary perspective on the impact and the future trajectories of remote work, from the nexus between the location from where work is performed and how it is performed to how remote locations may affect the way work is managed and organised, as well as the applicability of existing legislation. Additional questions concern remote work’s environmental and social impact and the rapidly changing nature of the relationship between work and life.


AVAILABLE HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Eurofound Talks: does Europe have the skills it needs for a changing economy?

In this episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast, Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound’s research manager, Tina Weber, its senior research manager, Gijs van Houten, and Giovanni Russo, senior expert at CEDEFOP (The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training), about Europe’s skills challenges and what can be done to help workers and businesses adapt to future skills demands.

Listen where you get your podcasts, or for free, by clicking on the link below


LISTEN HERE

About Social Europe

Our Mission

Article Submission

Membership

Advertisements

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

Social Europe Archives

Search Social Europe

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Follow us

RSS Feed

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on YouTube