Austria needs more than celebration, and that was the clear message from President Alexander Van der Bellen as he opened the 80th Bregenz Festival with a forceful appeal for democracy, respect, and unity.
Speaking at the anniversary event, Van der Bellen praised the festival’s long success, saying its stage had shown for eight decades what people can achieve when they are bold enough to pursue big ideas, according to Heute. But his speech quickly moved beyond culture and celebration to a deeper warning about society, politics, and the growing strain on liberal democracy.
He said freedoms such as free speech, the right to vote, independent courts, equality before the law, and the freedom to love without fear should never be treated as ordinary. These rights, he warned, are not automatic. They must be protected, renewed, and lived every day. Liberal democracy, he said, is not a one-day event on election day but a daily responsibility shared by all citizens.
Van der Bellen also warned against growing polarization and the speed of social media, where emotion often travels faster than truth. He said it is easy to spread anger and distrust, but much harder to build solutions, restore confidence, and keep people together.
His message was clear: democracy begins with listening, and it weakens when political opponents are no longer seen as fellow human beings. He urged people to step in when others are mocked, degraded, or excluded, ending that thought with the words: “I’m not joining in.”
He also linked the idea of democracy to the spirit of opera itself. Just as a performance depends on many voices and roles working together, he said, so does Austria. His closing message was that a country does not need everyone to think alike in order to belong together.
