"Krone" commentary

Out of concern for the location

Taking stock for the "Krone": Chief Economist Georg Wailand(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

Herbert Kickl and VP leader Stocker will probably no longer be best friends. The Freedom Party enjoys humiliating the VP, but the VP can't find a way out of the mice pen.

This is a scenario that must cause concern. Austria is a splendid country, highly liveable and also a high-income country. Instead of being proud of this and optimistically shaping the future, the party leaders are fighting each other like power-hungry spider monkeys.

This can be dangerous for the location. Energy prices that are too high, too much bureaucracy, high wage costs, rising inflation, a shortage of skilled workers, poorly managed migration, too much expensive government and still no long-term pension reform.

In a phase like this, we don't need squabblers who promise everything and deliver nothing, but a leadership with common sense and the right priorities.

If two parties cannot reach an agreement under the current leadership, there is no time to lose: Experts should then make necessary decisions possible again for a while. For example, action must be taken on the budget and rising debt. The same applies to EU issues that affect Austria.

It has taken several generations to bring Austria to its current level of prosperity - it would be an outrage to put all that at risk now.