CONCERNS SALZBURG

Elections in times of uncertainty

A commentary by "Salzburg-Krone" editor-in-chief Claus Pándi.

Elections in times of uncertainty What more important decisions have recently been made in Brussels in Salzburg's favor?

Or what great things have the Chancellor and his coalition come up with for Salzburg?

And what exactly has the Salzburg state government done for us since the elections a year ago?

Perhaps today's elections are more important for Salzburg than the regional elections were.

Today, every vote for the mayors and local councillors really does count. It's about a question that concerns all Salzburg residents: who looks after our Salzburg?

We live in villages, in communities, in cities that are not isolated from the world. No one with a sense of responsibility can pretend that the outside world doesn't concern us. The dream image of Salzburg's idealized world cultivated by provincial politics worked for a long time. That time is over.

The mountains, the lakes, the forests, the baroque city, the splendor of the festival: All this splendor can no longer hide the fact that the world has changed.

The pandemic has ended the illusion of security. We experienced unsettled politicians. We heard incendiary politicians. That left deep scars.

And no sooner had the pandemic subsided than Russia started a war on Europe's periphery. A campaign with far-reaching consequences for us too: inflation, rising prices, concerns about energy supplies, fears of an expansion. Germany, which is closely linked to Austria's prosperity, is sinking economically. The Chinese are penetrating Europe's car market in no small way. The digital giants are disrupting our lifestyles. News of climate change is robbing us of our last certainties.

And then there are the eternal debates about the almost unsolvable issue of refugee flows. The fact that kilometers of fences have been erected around border states across Europe for hundreds of millions of euros has hardly changed anything.

People often just want to flee from the never-ending storm of bad news to a mountain pasture in Pongau, Pinzgau or Lungau.

It is becoming more and more difficult to escape the great irritation. Often all you want to do is flee from the never-ending storm of bad news to a lonely mountain pasture.(Bild: Uwe Grinzinger)

As if that wasn't enough, a war broke out in the Middle East after an elusive massacre by Hamas in Israel. What will happen in the world if Donald Trump wins the US elections in November?

And what is happening in Austria in the meantime?

In Austria, as if there was nothing else to do, almost everything revolves around corruption cases, court proceedings, chats and a government in Vienna that is struggling to make ends meet.

What does this have to do with Salzburg and the elections?

A lot.

The upheavals are doing something to us. It's becoming increasingly difficult to escape the irritation.

Even if we would prefer things to be different: many things can no longer go on as before, because very little is the same as it used to be.

This is how Salzburg votes today in uncertain times. The mayors are taking on a burden like rarely before. They have to be there for everyone. They have to step in where other forces are running out of steam.