Styria awards Peter Kaiser its highest honour

Former Carinthia governor Peter Kaiser received Styria’s Great Golden Decoration of Honour with Star on Monday at the hall of the Old University in Graz, ORF reported. Styria Governor Mario Kunasek said the award recognised Kaiser as “a bridge-builder”.

Kunasek said Kaiser had been politically active for more than five decades and led Carinthia for 13 years, shaping its politics and governing the state with foresight. He also praised Kaiser for putting cooperation with neighbouring Styria at the centre of his political work.

Kaiser said he was honoured by the award and noted that his wife, Uli, is from Styria and is the patron of the Koralm Tunnel. He called the railway link a “once-in-a-millennium opportunity” for both states. Kaiser also revealed that one-sixteenth of his family is Styrian: his grandmother came from Stainz.

Kaiser praised the close cooperation between the two state governments, saying it could serve as a model for Austria. Carinthia Governor Daniel Fellner said the Koralm railway had brought the region closer, while cooperation across state borders was both a matter of common sense and a necessity of the times. Joint government meetings had helped lay the groundwork for a shared economic, innovation and education region, he said.

Carinthia Deputy Governor Martin Gruber also congratulated Kaiser, recalling their work together in the state government since 2018 and praising their respectful partnership. The ceremony was attended by current and former officials from both states, including former Styria governors Christopher Drexler and Hermann Schützenhöfer.