"Krone" commentary

The angel of peace – Putin’s angel

Analyzed for the "Krone": Andreas Mölzer(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently in Austria. He was received as a highly esteemed state guest, even though he had previously been with his "dear friend" Putin. And in response to criticism in this regard, our Foreign Minister Schallenberg energetically replied that we should not fall into black-and-white thinking because Modi is a globally respected mediator. And India is, after all, the world's largest democracy.

ON THE ONE HAND, we all know that India could be an extremely important future market for us as an export nation. And in this respect, critical comments on the state guest are out of the question.

ON THE OTHER hand, democracy in India is one thing, and the Hindu nationalist Modi is a proven autocrat. And if he is then presented by the official side as a highly esteemed mediator and thus as a kind of "angel of peace", the question arises as to why the peace initiative of another politician, namely that of the Hungarian head of government Viktor Orbán, is dismissed as the presumptuousness of a "Putin angel".

Majority wants peace
The Hungarian head of state is currently holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months. And when he makes contact with Kiev, Moscow and Beijing, he may not be acting in agreement with most of the other European heads of state, but he is certainly acting in the interests of the vast majority of Europe's citizens. They want peace, peace and more peace!