Latest news with #OeVP
Daily Tribune
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Daily Tribune
Austria to stop refugee family reunification in EU first: govt
Austria announced on Wednesday that it would pause family reunifications for those with asylum status from May, becoming the first in the European Union to do so. Several EU countries are mulling stopping or tightening the right for people, who cannot safely return to their home countries, to bring their families, but so far no bloc member has a complete halt in place. Austria has already halted family reunification for Syrians since the ouster of Syria's leader Bashar al-Assad last December, arguing it has to reassess the situation and threatening their deportation. Syrians make up the bulk of family reunifications, but a newly formed conservative-led government -- under pressure with anti-immigration sentiment high -- has insisted that it needs to stop all. Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm said the government would make a legal change to allow the interior ministry to issue a decree to halt family reunification. "By May, so in just a few weeks, the stop is expected to become reality," Plakolm of the conservative People's Party (OeVP) told reporters. "On one hand, our systems have reached their limits and, on the other hand, the probability of successful integration decreases massively with each new arrival," she added. The pause is for six months but can be extended until May 2027, she said, adding it was a "mammoth task" to integrate those who have arrived, many of whom struggle to learn German and find jobs. In 2023, almost 9,300 people arrived due to family reunification; last year it was almost 7,800 people, according to government figures. Most of them were school-aged minors, placing a burden on schools, the government said. Rights organisations have criticised the government's plans in the country of nine million, with one of the main asylum support groups saying they would challenge the decree once issued in court. "There must be an emergency (to allow the government to pause family reunification), which in Austria is not the case," Asylkoordination Oesterreich spokesman Lukas Gahleitner told AFP. The anti-immigration far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) topped parliamentary elections for the first time ever last November, gaining almost a third of the votes. It failed to form government, with the election runner-up long-ruling OeVP cobbling together a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPOe) and the liberal NEOs.
Arab News
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Austria to stop refugee family reunification in EU first: govt
VIENNA: Austria announced on Wednesday that it would pause family reunifications for those with asylum status from May, becoming the first in the European Union to do so. Several EU countries are mulling stopping or tightening the right for people, who cannot safely return to their home countries, to bring their families, but so far no bloc member has a complete halt in place. Austria has already halted family reunification for Syrians since the ouster of Syria's leader Bashar Assad last December, arguing it has to reassess the situation and threatening their deportation. Syrians make up the bulk of family reunifications, but a newly formed conservative-led government — under pressure with anti-immigration sentiment high — has insisted that it needs to stop all. Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm said the government would make a legal change to allow the interior ministry to issue a decree to halt family reunification. 'By May, so in just a few weeks, the stop is expected to become reality,' Plakolm of the conservative People's Party (OeVP) told reporters. 'On one hand, our systems have reached their limits and, on the other hand, the probability of successful integration decreases massively with each new arrival,' she added. The pause is for six months but can be extended until May 2027, she said, adding it was a 'mammoth task' to integrate those who have arrived, many of whom struggle to learn German and find jobs. In 2023, almost 9,300 people arrived due to family reunification; last year it was almost 7,800 people, according to government figures. Most of them were school-aged minors, placing a burden on schools, the government said. Rights organizations have criticized the government's plans in the country of nine million, with one of the main asylum support groups saying they would challenge the decree once issued in court. 'There must be an emergency (to allow the government to pause family reunification), which in Austria is not the case,' Asylkoordination Oesterreich spokesman Lukas Gahleitner told AFP. The anti-immigration far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) topped parliamentary elections for the first time ever last November, gaining almost a third of the votes. It failed to form government, with the election runner-up long-ruling OeVP cobbling together a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPOe) and the liberal NEOs.
Express Tribune
13-02-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Talks to form Austria's first far right-led govt fail
VIENNA: Austria's Freedom Party ended coalition talks with the conservatives on Wednesday to form the country's first far right-led government following disagreements over key posts and issues including migration. The FPOe — which topped national polls for the first time ever in September — has been negotiating with the long-ruling conservative People's Party (OeVP) since early January. But cracks have appeared since last week, with radical FPOe leader Herbert Kickl insisting his party wants to hold both the interior and finance ministries -- demands the OeVP has rejected. "Despite intensive efforts, it had not been possible to reach an agreement," Kickl told reporters on Wednesday evening, adding that he was in favour of early snap elections. The OeVP in turn blamed "Kickl's thirst for power and uncompromising attitude" for the talks' failure. Had they been successful, the far right would have led the Alpine EU nation's government for the first time, though it has previously tasted power as a junior coalition partner. Now that talks have collapsed, analysts say snap elections are one of several likely scenarios, with the FPOe polling well ahead of its rivals. Austria's President Alexander Van der Bellen said that he would be holding talks with the parties in the coming days to "sound out" how to move forward. Conservative-led efforts to rule without the FPOe following the September vote failed in early January and efforts to form a government hit a record length of time last week. The previous record, set in the 1960s, was 129 days. Earlier on Wednesday the OeVP said it wanted to have the interior brief, with asylum and migration issues moved into a separate new ministry. But the FPOe rejected the OeVP's proposal as "fraught with numerous constitutional problems" and "doomed to failure". Leaks over the weekend also showed numerous outstanding issues, including on EU policy and asylum seekers. The OeVP wanted the FPOe -- which has slammed EU sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine -- to clarify its position on Moscow, insisting a future government must see Russia "as threat", according to a confidential document revealed by the media. Kickl is known for his harsh attacks on his opponents, including calling President Van der Bellen a "senile mummy". The FPOe leader has also caused controversy by calling himself the future "Volkskanzler" -- the people's chancellor -- as Hitler was termed in the 1930s though he has denied this is a Nazi reference. In its demands aired publicly on social media, the FPOe -- led by Kickl since 2021 -- went "all out, showing little willingness to compromise", said political analyst Thomas Hofer. AFP
Jordan Times
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Jordan Times
Austria's combative far-right leader Herbert Kickl
Secretary General Christian Hafenecker of the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) Herbert Kickl holds a press conference in Vienna on Wednesday (AFP photo) VIENNA — While negotiating with the conservatives to form a government, sharp-tongued Herbert Kickl was within reach of becoming contemporary Austria's first far-right chancellor. But talks fell apart on Wednesday after Kickl's Freedom Party (FPOe) lay claims to key posts and proposed policies on the EU, migration and other issues the conservative People's Party (OeVP) found unacceptable."Together, we wanted to lead Austria back to the top of Europe. Unfortunately, the OeVP was not ready to make decisive compromises," Kickl said in a statement, while the OeVP blamed Kickl's "thirst for power and uncompromising attitude".Wednesday's failure to form a government marks another dramatic twist for Kickl, a radical who took over a scandal-tainted FPOe in 2021 and revitalised it to top national polls for the first time ever in the FPOe at first failed to find partners to govern, the conservatives under a fresh leadership had agreed to coalition talks in January. 'People's chancellor'Before taking over the party, the 56-year-old Kickl, a marathon runner and climber, had made his career largely behind the scenes as its longtime its leader, he has skillfully tapped into voter anxieties over the Covid pandemic, inflation and the Ukraine war, including criticising European Union sanctions against bland, unassuming image contrasts with his virulent condemns critics and called President Alexander Van der Bellen, a former Greens leader, a "senile mummy".He also frequently employs terms reminiscent of the troubled past of the party, founded by former Nazis in the include styling himself as the future "Volkskanzler" -- the people's chancellor -- as Adolf Hitler was called in the of thousands have protested against the FPOe-led talks, amid concerns Kickl -- who has previously said "politics takes precedence over the law" -- would erode the rule of law as denies using Nazi a Facebook post at the weekend, he insisted "the rule of law, fundamental rights, freedom of opinion, free media, (and) the fight against anti-Semitism" were "a natural foundation of our political work".But the far-right leader has never made a secret of his closeness to extremist groups, expressing his support for the Identitarian Movement as early as movement subscribes to the "great replacement" conspiracy narrative that claims there is a plot to replace Europe's "native" white population with non-white has also espoused the far-right concept of "remigration" -- wanting to expel people of non-European ethnic backgrounds, including Austrian nationals, deemed to have failed to integrate."Supporting an anti-elite and xenophobic party has perhaps become socially acceptable" almost everywhere in the world, said Christian Rainer, the former chief editor of the weekly Kickl makes French far-right leader Marine Le Pen "look like Mother Teresa", he has avoided debates and interviews, denouncing the media for their "lack of objectivity".Instead he has relied on social media to spread his views. Secret service raidHis past time in government -- when the FPOe was a junior partner to the OeVP from 2017 to 2019 -- has included some his time as interior minister in 2018, the authorities raided the country's intelligence service, seriously damaging the service's reputation among its international April last year, prosecutors launched a corruption investigation against him, amid allegations that he embezzled public money to pay for lucrative adverts in the media, in return for receiving favourable December, parliament approved a request by prosecutors to lift his immunity so he could be questioned for allegedly providing false voters have warmed to Kickl's tidy and trustworthy contrast to his flamboyant predecessors Joerg Haider and Heinz-Christian Strache -- who stepped back after a spectacular graft scandal -- Kickl has maintained a low profile. Born in Villach, the capital of the southern state of Carinthia, he studied philosophy, history, communication and political science in Vienna -- but left the courses before finishing -- and started working for the FPOe in 1995.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Talks to form Austria's first far-right govt stall
Talks to form Austria's first far right-led government stalled on Wednesday, with the negotiating parties airing disagreements over key posts. The far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) -- which topped national polls for the first time ever in September -- has been negotiating with the long-ruling conservative People's Party (OeVP) since early January. But since last week cracks have appeared, with radical FPOe leader Herbert Kickl insisting his party wants to hold both the interior and finance ministries -- which the OeVP has rejected. In a statement on Wednesday the OeVP said it wanted to have the interior ministry, with asylum and migration issues moved into a separate new ministry. The FPOe, in turn issuing a statement, rejected the OeVP's proposal as "fraught with numerous constitutional problems" and "doomed to failure". Protocols from the negotiations leaked over the weekend showed numerous outstanding issues, including on EU policy and asylum seeker treatments. If the talks are successful, a far right-led government would be a first though the far right has been part of government already several times in the Alpine EU member. - 'Like Trump' - But in its demands aired publicly on social media, the FPOe -- since 2021 under Kickl -- went "all out, showing little willingness to compromise", according to political analyst Thomas Hofer. "Kickl tries to approach it a bit like Trump, really wanting to fulfil his campaign promises one by one and work through them," Hofer told AFP, adding the demands Kickl has put on the table "can never be accepted by the OeVP". Should talks fail, snap elections are likely, according to analysts, with the FPOe polling well ahead of rivals. The FPOe stands at more than 35 percent in voter opinion polls -- up from the almost 29 percent they gained in September. The OeVP, which came second with 26 percent in September, has slumped to some 18 percent and is now trailing in third place behind the Social Democrats in voter opinion polls. After elections, the OeVP tried to form a government with the Social Democrats and a smaller liberal party, the NEOS, but those talks collapsed in early January. Both SPOe and NEOs this week said they were ready to talk to the OeVP once again to prevent an FPOe-led government. Tens of thousands have protested in Vienna against the negotiations, expressing fears an FPOe-led government would chip away at the rule of law, as well as minority and other rights. jza/jm
