Reiner Reitsamer welcomes the former Chancellors to the big ORF III interview – on June 7th at 8:15 p.m
Vienna (OTS) – The latest special edition of the ORF III discussion format “zur SACHE” on Friday, June 7, 2024, at 8:15 p.m. will feature a top-class cast: two days before the EU election, the former Austrian Chancellors Franz Vranitzky (SPÖ) and Wolfgang Schüssel ( ÖVP) as two central actors in Austria’s accession to the European Union in an interview with Reiner Reitsamer on important questions.
On June 24, 1994, Federal Chancellor Franz Vranitzky signed the EU accession treaty in Corfu. The later Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel was significantly involved in the negotiations as the then Minister of Economics. Shortly before the signing, a large majority of Austrians voted in a referendum to join the European Union. Today, almost 30 years later, the mood is less euphoric. In a recent survey, only 36 percent of the population stated that they had a very or fairly positive image of the EU; only in the Czech Republic is the image of the European Union worse than in Austria. Who is responsible for this image? How close is the EU to its citizens? How much freedom does it give its members and where does it restrict the nation states? How much nationalism can a united Europe tolerate? Does the EU need a new guiding principle? And how do you see accession today? Reiner Reitsamer discusses these and other questions with the two high-ranking former politicians.
Further details about the ORF III Culture and Information program are available at tv.ORF.at/orf3.