Next year will be the 25th anniversary of the death of the Viennese original Falco. Johann “Hans” Hölzel, his real name, died in a car accident in 1998 at the age of 40. Now the Austrian information platform oe24.at has dug up an old interview in which the eccentric world star predicted the Russian attack on Ukraine back then.
“I see that we have a great threat from the East,” read a statement from Falco, who wasn’t exactly known as an overly political artist.
He also prophesied that if the then President Boris Yeltsin of the still young Russian Federation did not succeed in putting “this dictator” in his place – then the story would have a bad ending. What was meant was Vladimir Putin, who wanted to inherit the sick Yeltsin.
The interviewee at the time, Norbert Ivanek, delved deeper into the subject. Falco became explicit: “That’s realistic! That is absolutely realistic! If Yeltsin is shot tomorrow, this thirty percent will come.” (meaning Putin).
He predicted: “He’ll take Ukraine first.”
And further, whereby “coal” does not mean the raw material, but “play dough”: “Then he shoots nuclear missiles and blackmails the countries with coal. And the West is so wait-and-see. Because we can’t screw it up with these Russians. I see a great, great danger from the East. It’s almost like another war.”
A remarkable set of statements that hardly any foreign policy expert shared at the time. In 1998 it was by no means foreseeable what future role Vladimir Putin would play on the international political stage in the medium to long term. The former KGB agent in Dresden mourned the end of the Soviet Union, but most saw it as folklore.
In Germany and other Western countries, Putin was initially considered a reliable “bearer of hope” after Yeltsin, who was increasingly unpredictable due to his alcohol addiction.