Van der Bellen in conversation
“This team can inspire the whole country!”
The whole country is eagerly awaiting the European Football Championship in Germany. Naturally, Austria's Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen is too. Our head of state chatted to the "Krone" newspaper about his anticipation of the EURO and the unifying effect of the spectacle in our neighboring country Germany.
"Krone": Mr. President, generally speaking, what is your relationship with soccer?
Alexander Van der Bellen: I'm a big fan and enjoy watching games - unfortunately I rarely make it to the stadium.
How much are you looking forward to the European Championships and what can we expect from our national team in sporting terms?
I know, France, the Netherlands, Poland - there's a lot of talk about chances and strong opponents. But I've been following our national team's games so far with interest and I have to say: it's already been a decent performance! They've shown in qualifying and preparation matches that Austria can hold their own against any team. I wish them the same fighting spirit that we saw in the qualifiers in the first games.
Ideally, how important can such a tournament be for the collective enthusiasm for the atmosphere, for living together in the country?
Major sporting events unite and bring together the most diverse people who would otherwise probably never come together. That's what makes them unique! That doesn't just apply to us in Austria, but in this case also to us as a European community. When people all over the continent gather in front of the screens at the same time for public viewing and share in the excitement, celebration and joy, it becomes clear that the EURO is not just a tournament. Every time, it is also an opportunity to celebrate what Europe is all about: our diversity, our freedom and our team spirit. I think that's really important, especially in times when people like to emphasize what divides us. Soccer unites across all borders, as they say. Ideally, we should all let ourselves be carried away by this in the coming weeks.
Do you have any favorite players?
We have so many good players that I don't want to single out just one. Our team plays with so much passion and skill that it inspires the whole country. Even many people who otherwise have little enthusiasm for soccer are suddenly rooting for us.
Will you be at a match in the stadium?
Unfortunately, my busy schedule doesn't allow it at the moment. But if we progress, the schedule will simply be rearranged - that much is clear. Anyway, my fingers are crossed! And not just mine.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Kommentare
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.