Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger (Neos) is the only politician in the Austrian government who will have her own box at the Vienna Opera Ball. According to Austrian media outlet Politik Live, she will host state guests from the Philippines and Albania, with Foreign Minister Elisa Spiropali expected to attend for Albania.
On Thursday, the biggest social event of the year is held at the State Opera, but this time with a minimal political presence.
According to the rules, free honorary boxes belong only to the Federal President and the Chancellor. All other boxes must be financed by the participants themselves. The prices are record-breaking: a balcony box costs 26,000 euros, while an entrance ticket costs 410 euros.
The reason why there are only two free boxes is related to the ceremonial role: the government constitutes the "honorary presidium", while the Federal President holds the "honorary protection" of the Opera Ball.
While President Alexander Van der Bellen and his wife Doris Schmidauer will represent the head of state, Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP) will be absent from the government, who is in Brussels for an EU engagement. However, he will be officially replaced at the ceremony.
Albanian Minister Elisa Spiropali will be invited to a box that costs over 26 thousand euros, together with a state representative from the Philippines. In fact, tomorrow the Foreign Service Law is expected to be approved in the Assembly, one of the most important acts that affects the organization, career and functioning of Albanian diplomacy.
In practice, this means that the Foreign Minister will be in Vienna for a gala evening of classical music on the very day when Parliament is expected to vote on the law that directly affects the institution she heads.
In this context, it seems that Albanian diplomacy will have a more “harmonious” evening in Vienna than the debate on its law in Tirana. While the Assembly is expected to vote on a law affecting the architecture of the foreign service, the Foreign Minister will have the opportunity to listen to Strauss waltzes from a 26 thousand euro box — an elegant reminder that, sometimes, classical music seems more urgent than modern diplomacy.
