While heads of state and government gathered in Prague sent a signal of unity to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, the Austrian chancellor showed a lack of sensitivity to historic moments.
Images make history – this simple statement in itself does not seem to have reached Karl Nehammer. During his visit yesterday to the founding meeting of the European Political Community, the Austrian chancellor missed the moment it really was: namely the joint photograph of the participants, which was intended to be a message of unity: 44 representatives of European democracies attended the Castle of Prague to signal to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin that the continent will not be divided in the face of Russian aggression. 42 of them finally made it to the historic family photo.
Of the two absentees, Mette Frederiksen clearly had the better excuse, as the Danish head of government had to deal with the disintegration of her coalition and set a date for new elections. And Chancellor Nehammer? He was late in Prague for a press conference on the army budget.
At this point, it could be argued that symbolic photos don’t win wars or fire boilers, and that the subsequent bilateral conversations about Hradschin, at which Nehammer was present, were actually the most important part of the meeting. But with his decision, the chancellor showed that he lacks a sense of political timing-and historical moments. It probably wouldn’t be a disadvantage if the ÖVP president occasionally thought of the wisdom of the last CPSU president, Mikhail Gorbachev: “Those who arrive too late will be punished with life.”