The ÖVP sees itself as a European party. The top candidate for the EU elections, Reinhold Lopatka, is therefore looking for something that unites people in the election campaign. He travels to border areas in eastern Austria. The “Krone” accompanied him to Bad Radkersburg, where he met local officials and politicians from Slovenia.
The People’s Party will have to take into account a major loss in the European elections this Sunday, after all, it achieved 34.5 percent in 2019, just a few days after the Ibiza scandal broke out. A value that Lopatka cannot even dream of. But he does not show that, the 64-year-old has been in politics for a long time and has experienced a lot.
The Styrian is a marathon runner and he organizes his election campaign accordingly. On Friday morning he first visits Styrian Governor Christopher Drexler (ÖVP) and gives a press conference with him in Graz.
Then we continue to Bad Radkersburg. In this border region, EU membership is viewed positively. “60 percent of the employees in local companies come from Slovenia, we need each other. “We cannot exist without our neighbors,” says Mayor Karl Lautner. Bad Radkersburg grew together with its Slovenian neighbors after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Europaplatz is now located between former customs buildings
A bridge, owned half by Austria and half by Slovenia, connects Bad Radkersburg with the neighboring town of Gornja Radgona. Mayor Urška Mauko Tuš came to the meeting with Lopatka. The recently opened Europaplatz, located between the former customs offices, is being celebrated. And the best thing: there is also a Europlatz on the other side of the bridge.
Recent history is still very much present here. Slovenian MP Franc Breznik talks about the Yugoslav war in 1991. At that time, the church tower was shot down and two people were killed. For Lopatka, the election campaigns in Styria are a home game. Here we know him from his youth at the JVP (Young ÖVP). He is often asked about this time. After a glass of Styrian Pinot Blanc and a few sandwiches, he continues his journey. He goes to Leibnitz, where he goes on the adventurous hiking trail with the rural youth.
Lopatka looks at several EU co-financed Leader projects implemented together with the rural youth of the Leibnitz district. More than 100 interested parties walked up the Demmerkogel to the new lookout tower together with the future EU mandate holder. That was also built with EU funds – with a view to Hungary and Slovenia – from which you can see six EU projects.
Visit to a border church
During the election campaign, the black list leader mainly focused on the eastern border area. On Pentecost Monday he was in St. Emmerich’s Church, where Austrians and Hungarians celebrate the service together. The church is located in the no man’s land between Austria and Hungary. Until the Second World War it was a pilgrimage church and parish church for Inzenhof and Tschanigraben.
During the war it was made inaccessible and after the war – when communism came to Hungary – barbed wire was laid and there was a minefield next to the church. The church was used as a tower by the soldiers and the church was shot down. Thanks to the dedicated population, the reconstruction of the church began in 1990 by a volunteer organization.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
