High Representative Valentin Inzko attended today at the Vienna State Opera the official high-level celebration marking the centenary of the founding of the Republic of Austria. Several states were founded after the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, including Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia. Austria marks this celebration on November 12.
28 years later, in 1945, Austria had to be re-established as a sovereign state, after seven years of Nazi dictatorship during which it did not exist. This second chance was used to do everything together, and now Austria is one of the richest states in the world, the High Representative said on the occasion.
On Sunday, High Representative Inzko witnessed a symbolic act of reconciliation in Graz. Anita Hohenberg, the great-granddaughter of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, shook hands with Branislav Princip, grandnephew of Gavrilo Princip. It was the son of Franz Ferdinand, Max, who had already forgiven Princip in a letter. “This symbolic act reminds us of the past, but at the same time offers proof today that reconciliation is and must be possible if we all act as human beings,” concluded the High Representative.