CAA Vienna Meets with Austrian Foreign Minister
Wide-ranging Q&A
From Gustav Dressler (Board Member, Bank der Osterreichischen Postspark):
On Monday, January 26, 2015, Chase alumni in Austria enjoyed a
meeting with Austrian Foreign Minister
Sebastian Kurz, who is responsible for European, Integration and Foreign Affairs.
Kurz, at 28 the youngest foreign secretary in Europe, was interviewed by
Gustav Dressler in the Marble Hall
of the Foreign Ministry. (Dressler joined Chase's credit training program in London in 1982.)
Kurz, who became Minister of Foreign Affairs and Integration in 2013, had been a member of the Vienna City Council and chairman of the Young ÕVP (Austrian Peoples Party).
Chase Alumni, managers and entrepreneurs – a group of 160 all told – were both surprised and
delighted by the fresh and open style of discussion. After a light-hearted
introduction on the joys of starting out on a ministerial career with
record-low popularity ratings, Kurz fielded questions from the audience on a
wide range of topics such as the speed and dangers of integration,
proficiency of different immigrant groups in Germany and the success of education
within the school system, beginning with kindergarten. We also discussed Austria's experience
with waves of immigrants from different national, cultural and religious
backgrounds. Later, the questions shifted to the situation in the Ukraine
and Austria's relations with Russia, and (this was on the day after the
Greek elections!) to the political and economic prospects for Europe.
Perhaps surprisingly, there was no discussion of relations with the United
States, presumably because there was no perception of any pressing problems
there. After exactly an hour, the minister excused himself to continue his
evening conferring with his European colleagues on Greece and sanctions
against Russia, while the audience, fuelled by sparkling wine and canapes,
buzzed with the thrill of foreign affairs being back on the agenda in
Austria under the care of this energetic and thoughtful young man.
Click here for additional photos.