Archduke Karl of Austria spoke at a seminar on 14 September where he criticised the little effort that has been made regarding security in Europe. As the Archduke said: “We do not live in a safe world.” His claim is that the continent is not as safe today as it was before. The seminar was held in Austria as a part of the seminar “Wirtschaftsbund Business talk” where prominent people from the bank and business society in Austria were represented.
The Archduke is a rising star in Austrian and European politics. With his humour and interesting opinions, he delighted the audience. There were so many who wanted to listen to what the Austrian pretender had to say that there was no room for everyone, so the meeting was moved to a larger location so that everybody could hear the Archduke speak.
Archduke Karl of Austria during the signature of the Blue-Shield-Memorandum in Vienna in 2017. Photo: Jean-Frédéric via Wikimedia Commons.
In the discussion with the Chairman of the Trade Association, Norbert Steinwidder, Habsburg positioned itself as a “champion of the European Union as a peace project”. “Despite all legitimate criticism of the EU, the idea of security must remain the first thought,” he said. The Archduke gave a clear dissipation to the extreme right-wing tendencies in Europe. “Nobody needs that anymore,” he said.
The Austrian royal also shared some personal information during his speech. He said that he and his siblings grew up speaking five languages. In addition, history, geography and religion shaped their education. The Archduke said: “When we went on holiday, our dad played games with us. And that was that we needed to list all the African countries along the coast, or assign all the departments of France to the right number”.
His Majesty King Michael I of Romania together Archduke Karl of Austria at the funeral of Crown Prince Otto of Austria who was the first cousin of King Michael’s wife Queen Anne. Photo: HertigAvRomanjie via Wikimedia Commons.
Archduke Karl of Austria is the grandson of the last Austrian emperor. Today, he is the President of the Pan-European movement, as well as the pretender to the Austro-Hungarian throne and a former member of the European Parliament.
He is also referred to by his ancestral titles as Royal Prince of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia. He is the current head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine which ruled the lands of the Habsburg monarchy, the Empire of Austria, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, and the Kingdom of Hungary as well as the crown lands of Bohemia and Croatia by hereditary right until the end of World War I.
