The bill has arrived

The chancellor’s World Cup trip cost the government 100,000 euros

Accompanied by nine (!) companions, Stocker traveled to Dallas in June. The bill for the short trip is coming in high.(Bild: facebookaccount Christian Stocker)

Four days, nine companions, and a hefty bill. Prime Minister Christian Stocker’s trip to the U.S.—which had already drawn heavy criticism—is increasingly turning out to be an own goal. The bill obtained by the “Krone” shows that the trip cost the state more than 10,000 euros per player on Stocker’s team …

Opening a consulate, gathering economic ideas, and cheering on Austria’s national team against Argentina—Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP) managed to do all of that in Dallas in June during a single four-day trip. From June 20 to 23, Stocker traveled overseas with nine companions—a move that drew heavy criticism at the time. Now the hefty bill for the chancellor’s short trip is on the table: around 102,750 euros.

32,000 euros in hotel costs for three nights
The breakdown in detail: 57,750 euros for flights. Added to that are about 32,000 euros for the hotel and about 13,000 euros for rental cars—both estimates from the embassy, neither of which has been settled yet. And the visit to the World Cup match itself? According to the Chancellor’s Office, it took place at the invitation of FIFA and at the request of the ÖFB team. Cost: zero euros.

This is how the trip is justified
The official reason for the trip—as the chancellor’s office emphasizes—was not the World Cup match, but a new Austrian honorary consulate: opened in Dallas, covering Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. “If Texas were a separate country, it would be the eighth-largest economy in the world,” officials in the chancellor’s office explain.

Stocker met with U.S. business leaders, the mayor of Dallas, and members of Congress. And after all, the U.S. is Austria’s most important trading partner outside of Europe. Former Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache (formerly of the FPÖ) traveled to Russia for the World Cup in 2018, even though Austria hadn’t qualified.