By: Sara Adams
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Europe
VIENNA, Austria – After center-right candidate Sebastian Kurz won a surprising victory in the Austrian election, he is now calling for discussion with “alternative right” groups in the country, hoping to give them a voice in the national government.
Mr. Kurz is Austria’s current foreign minister. On October 15th, Austrians voted to give Mr. Kurz’ party, the People’s Party, the power to form the next government. This means that Mr. Kurz is likely to be Austria’s next Chancellor.
The vote reflected a right-wing shift in Austria. The third-place vote-getters were the Freedom Party, a far-right, anti-immigration party with ties to Neo-Nazism.
Mr. Kurz and his party seem to echo the sentiments of the Freedom Party.
During his time as foreign minister, Mr. Kurz was responsible for stopping the flow of refugees into Austria by shutting down borders on the Balkan route. During the campaign, he promised to do the same thing on the Mediterranean route of asylum seekers.
Mr. Kurz’s anti-Muslim sentiment has come out in other policy points. He cited a study that allegedly found that Islamic kindergartens, religious schools permitted under Austrian law, contribute to a “parallel society.”
Yet Mr. Kurz and his party insisted on the campaign trail that shifting to the right is merely an issue of popular viewpoint in Austria.
An anonymous adviser for Mr. Kurz stated that “most European populations don’t want to become half-Afghan or half-Syrian or half-African.” The adviser added that “you have to accept it. If you don’t, we’ll go to the extreme far right.”
Mr. Kurz People’s Party did not gain enough votes in the election to lead the country on their own. In a coalition government, this means that the People’s Party will have to partner with another to achieve its goals.
Mr. Kurz has said that this partner will likely be the Freedom Party.
To back up his choice, Mr. Kurz said that the Freedom Party has shown a “will to bring change in Austria together.”
Austria has been moving consistently further right in the several years since the refugee crisis began.
If the new government is a coalition between two right wing parties, it may lead to even stricter restrictions on refugees fleeing war in the middle east.
Ramazan Demir is an imam and leader of the Islamic Religious Community in Austria. He has expressed concerns over where Austria is going in recent years.
“They did their politics on the backs of Muslims,” Mr. Demir said about the rise of the far-right parties in Austria.
“There’s never been this much Islamophobia in Austria.”
For more information, please see:
BBC News – Austria: Sebastian Kurz opens talks with Freedom Party – 24 October 2017
NPR – Austria Election: Center-Right Party Head Likely Next Prime Minister – 15 October 2017
