CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 02/2023

LE MONDE UNITED KINGDOM | INTERVIEW
Beeindruckend.
NGO’s. So I came here saying: “This will
happen.” The reaction was: “Are you sure?”
But now the government, the Chancellor
and the President, are clear in their messages:
Austria is militarily neutral, but not
morally. That has been really good for Europe
to see.
Did the Russian aggression bring the UK and the
EU closer together again?
We are talking about the fight for liberty,
freedom and all the democratic values
we all believe in. We are absolutely united
in what that means. But we have seen a lot
more progress on the relationship lately:
The anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement
and the Windsor Framework are
statements showing that that we have always
been Europeans. We might have left
the club but we have never lost our place in
Europe.
Talking about the Brexit, we have to talk about
economics. In a new report of the Austrian trade
representative in London, I read that the Brexit
aftermath amplifies the shockwaves the
pandemics and the war have created.
That’s a fair observation. I cannot say that
there are no problems with Brexit. But look
at the resilience of the City of London and
the financial institutions. Thousands of jobs
were created by Austrian companies in the
UK and British companies in Austria even
in the last years. Business and investment
confidence in both countries is at an all time
high. The World Bank said that out of all big
European countries, we are the best place to
do business. We have built the largest life
sciences sector in Europe, our advanced manufacturing
industries produce around half
the world’s large civil aircraft wings and we
have become world leaders in offshore wind
energy to name a few examples. The trade
figures are incredibly impressive.
Obviously the rest of the EU wants to portrait
Brexit as a failure. But it was not a success either,
was it?
There were a lot of stories: Frankfurt
will take over from London etc. When I
read the story about UK vegetable shortages
in an Austrian newspaper I phoned up
my mother back home. She drew me a very
different picture. Let me assure you: We got
a positive outlook. For me trade and investment
is an intrinsic tool of an Ambassador.
It’s in our DNA. And when it comes to science,
things are improving. There’s still a
missing link in the puzzle about UK’s role
in European programmes, but that is becoming
clearer now.
That sounds as if the relations between UK and
the Continent have even improved.
Our prime minister Rishi Sunak has
made it very clear how import the relations
to the institutions of Europe are for us. His
relationship to President Ursula von der
Leyen is excellent. There is a new commitment
to our place in Europe.
What a paradox: We have half of the Continent
watching the Coronation Ceremony of the British
King and English being the common language of
Europe, but the biggest English speaking country,
the Kingdom of King Charles, is not part of our
Union.
Maybe we spend too much time thinking
about titles. For us being outside the
EU means: We have to work harder. When
I came here, I found many people upset
and even saddened by what had happened.
But there is something we have in common
in the Austrian and British mentality: We
say “Let’s move forward!”
You had difficult stations in your career:
Pyönyang, Seychelles, Moscow. How is Austria in
comparison?
When I first arrived here, many people
asked me: Should we be worried given your
history of serving in difficult places? But
honestly: It is the country where I feel very
much at home. It is definitely the most pleasant
of the countries in my career. Maybe
it is because it reminds me of the Scottish
lakes and mountains, I don’t know. What
struck me is how fast I have become a
cheerleader for this country. I even care
who will win the next ski race.
PHOTO: RALPH MANFREDA
Ihre einzigartigen Fotomomente
festgehalten in einem CEWE FOTOBUCH.
cewe-fotoservice.at
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Cercle Diplomatique 2/2023