The action with the slogan #Let’sTalk wants to bring everyone in Austria to one table. That’s what the initiators Red Cross, Austrian Medical Association (ÖAK), Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) and ORF say. They show that different opinions and standpoints are normal and that all sides and opposites want to have a place in Austria, as long as the debate and the positions represented are based on the constitution.

campaign started

A campaign with advertisements and spots in newspapers, television and radio started last week. The initiative has its own website and also spreads its message through several channels in the social networks. The TV commercials show that differences enrich people and democracy, move them forward and do not stop and weaken them. The focus is not on vaccination, but on dialogue, what connects us, openness towards each other. Contrasts, diversity, solidarity and respect also find their place.

The ORF reports on the initiative in all of its programs. on Lasstunsreden.at you will find opportunities to get involved, start a conversation, and all the information.

Gerald Creator: We must not allow our society to fall apart

“In difficult times Austria stands together. We must not allow our society to break up due to the coronavirus crisis. It is all the more important that people in our country talk to each other again instead of being against each other. With ‘You+I=Austria’ we take a single step to approach each other again. Whether in the family, with friends, at work, in a club, in the supermarket or on the train – let’s talk to each other again, there are so many topics apart from Corona that connect us,” said Geraldario, President of the Austrian Red Cross.

Roland Weißmann: ORF as the “glue of society”

“Contradictions in society are not new, Austria has always been characterized by the ability to engage in dialogue and balance. The pandemic has put social cohesion under noticeable pressure,” said ORF Director General Roland Weißmann. The ORF forms “as the glue of society, the media platform for this campaign”.

Call for solidarity and respect

“We must not allow scientific facts and medical consensus to be negated, distorted and thus misused to divide society,” said Thomas Szekeres, President of the Medical Association. He called for more dialogue, solidarity and respect.

“In addition to the medical and epidemiological level, the corona pandemic also challenges us as a society and in our cohesion. If we allow a community with a societal goal to become a community of convenience, where everyone values ​​their own views and intentions, then the coronavirus has brought us additional collateral damage that will be difficult to repair.”

“The corona pandemic harbors many uncertainties. Many people feel insecure, scared and don’t belong. We want to bring the human back to the fore, approach each other and put what we have in common ahead of what divides us,” said ÖGK General Director Bernhard Wurzer.