A quick decision?

Vranitzky: “I wouldn’t mind if HE were to become chancellor”

In the terrace room of the “Kreisky Forum”: Franz Vranitzky during an interview.(Bild: Imre Antal)

He became chancellor 40 years ago; this Sunday, Franz Vranitzky celebrates his 89th birthday: In an interview with the “Krone,” the SPÖ’s grand seigneur discusses the leadership debate within his party, “firewalls” against the rise of the far right, and his thoughts on this “completely different world.”

The “Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue” at Armbrustergasse 15 in Vienna; the villa’s foundation walls date back to the 17th century. The “Sun King” once rented a room here and would personally pick up the phone when we journalists called the landline. “The most beautiful moment in this house was when we opened it in 1991, a year after Kreisky’s death,” says Franz Vranitzky, the forum’s founder and honorary president. “So many people admired and loved Kreisky, and in this way, he hasn’t been forgotten.” Portraits of Kreisky, Kreisky’s furniture, Kreisky’s books. Austria’s oldest living chancellor (1986–1997) takes a seat in the terrace room on one of the leather armchairs at the long glass table; outside in the garden, a Lebanese cedar dating back to the time of the Congress of Vienna sways in the wind. He came by bus, changing lines twice. He is not dressed like the average 38A passenger, but like a gentleman: a dark suit, a pink-and-white-striped shirt, and a light blue tie. During the interview, his cell phone rings five times. Vranitzky answers each time and asks the caller to try again in the afternoon. “I’m in the middle of an important conversation right now.”