The burgomaster will leave his mother

Europe's youngest mayor is looking for a separate apartment

The youngest European mayor promises to leave his parents' home and finally begin an independent life. Twenty-five-year-old Austrian Martin Gruber, elected mayor of his home town of Kappel am Krappfeld last week, promised soon after his landslide victory that he would live separately. “The burgomaster, whose mother still does the dishes and laundry, does not make the most pleasant impression,” Newsru.com quotes a statement from Gruber, who, apparently, intends to continue to retain managerial positions. In the meantime, Gruber needs to prove to his fellow countrymen, and indeed to all Europeans, that he should not be considered a mummy's boy, much less a daddy's boy - it was his father, who is an activist of the Austrian People's Party, who opened the door to politics for him.

Now the newly-minted burgomaster of a town in the federal state of Carinthia, whose population barely reaches 2 thousand people, still shares his room with his younger brother. Gruber was born into a poor but large family of farmers, so he was used to living without excesses. But the new position obliges him to change his living standards somewhat, because from now on he is not a student, not an ordinary worker, and not a party activist, but a full-fledged burgomaster. Even in such a small town as Kappel am Krappfeld, the agricultural roots of whose inhabitants are eloquently evidenced by the figure of a reaper on one of the streets (see photo) .

At the same time, Martin Gruber will have to modify the archaic office of the mayor. Having arrived to occupy it as the owner, the new burgomaster was surprised to not even find an old computer there. His predecessors managed quite well using old-fashioned methods. But the youngest European mayor does not intend to put up with this - he is going to start by bringing his personal laptop to work.

But fellow countrymen, apparently, expect more significant changes from Gruber. It is not for nothing that during the voting his gap over another candidate, more experienced both in politics and in everyday affairs, Joseph Klausner, exceeded 50% of the votes. Youth and, as they say, active participation in the public life of his native town also played a role, because Martin Gruber is a member of the local union of rural youth, enrolled in the voluntary fire brigade, is on the church council and even participates in the city drama club. In addition, he was nominated as a candidate for burgomaster by the Austrian People's Party, which dominates the political scene of the Alpine country. Representatives of the ANP, however, claim that Gruber did not hide behind party banners, but secured his victory himself, through direct and constant contacts with the electorate. “He can easily take credit for this sensational victory,” says Carinthian party leader Josef Martinza, who spent five years overseeing the transformation of a young college-trained farmer into a politician.

Fedor SEREBRYANSKY