Schüssel and Pröll receive Alois Mock European award

Former Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel and former Lower Austrian governor Erwin Pröll have received the Dr. Alois Mock European Award. ORF reported that the award was presented on Monday at Palais Niederösterreich, a palace in Vienna.

Lower Austrian Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner said Schüssel had helped shape Austria’s path into the European Union, while Pröll had worked for the state’s development after the fall of the Iron Curtain and for cross-border cooperation. She described them as two people who had done a great deal for a united Europe. Both politicians belong to the ÖVP.

Former EU commissioner Johannes Hahn delivered the award citations at the ceremony, which also included former German Bundestag president Norbert Lammert. Mikl-Leitner said the two laureates shared with Alois Mock a political path and the aim of building a strong Austria and a confident Lower Austria within a united Europe.

Pröll recalled debates over the EU’s enlargement and said it had been important to take public concerns seriously while explaining the opportunities for Lower Austria. He also urged young people to be courageous and think unconventionally.

Schüssel called for greater European independence and joint efforts in security and defence policy in response to current geopolitical challenges. “Europe must not only become bigger, but stronger,” he said. He also highlighted shared political decisions and cited the Institute of Science and Technology Austria, the Semmering Base Tunnel and the Koralm Tunnel as projects that had durably changed Austria and Lower Austria.

The ceremony also highlighted the Wachau European Forum, founded in 1995 by Mock, Schüssel and Pröll.