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Stenzel defects to FPÖ for Vienna election

Long time ÖVP politician and district chairwoman for Vienna's first district Ursula Stenzel will stand in the upcoming Vienna elections as an independent candidate with the right-wing party FPÖ party, she announced this morning.

Published: 1 September 2015 11:14 CEST

Stenzel defects to FPÖ for Vienna election

Michael Kranewitter/Wikipedia

At a joint press conference with FPÖ chairman Heinz-Christian Strache, Stenzel said she was standing on the FPÖ candidates list because she wanted to “break the red-green dominance”, referring to the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and Green Party (Die Grünen).

“I do this because I would like to break the red-green dominance in Vienna and because I would like to break and I would like to prevent the red-greens in the Innere Stadt, the first district, the centre of Vienna,” she said.

Stenzel, a former TV presenter with the ORF, had not been nominated by the ÖVP to stand in the October city elections, with the party choosing politician Markus Figl in July instead.

Stenzel is still district chairwoman for Vienna's first district and she stressed at the press conference that if elected she would stay as district chairwoman.

Now aligning herself with the FPÖ, Stenzel said that she “is a signal for the people of Vienna that the FPÖ is selectable and must be.”

Since Stenzel was not nominated by the ÖVP for the election, there had been speculation about whether she would run on her own list.

The conservative Alliance for the Future of Austria party (BZÖ) had also reportedly offered her “a political home” but she had not taken up their offer.

Reacting to the news, deputy district chairwoman for the first district, Daniela Ecker-Stepp (SPÖ), called for residents to vote for the SPÖ to prevent a 'blue' first district, referring to the FPÖ.

“I am certain that residents of the first district neither want rabble-rousing or xenophobia. The first district is the centre of a metropolitan city and it's residents are interesting and cosmopolitan,” she said.

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Asylum policy is a controversial topic in Austria, especially in an election year. The far-right has been pushing its anti-immigration agenda to gather support ahead of federal elections later this year.

While the sheer number of refugees can shape an election, differences in who those refugees are and where they come from also create challenges and demands for government action.

The profile of those seeking asylum in Austria has changed compared to recent years.

In the first quarter of 2024, almost a third of asylum applications came from children between the ages of zero and seven, as Austrian media has reported.

Around 53 percent of applicants are minors, and the proportion of women seeking asylum has also risen significantly. However, the overall number of asylum applications during the period fell by 32 percent compared to the same period the year before.

Whereas 2023 most asylum applications in Austria were from males (only around 24 percent of applications were submitted by women), the country is now experiencing the “family reunification” phenomenon. In other words the wifes and children are following to seek protection.

Asylum applicants are still mostly from Syria and Afghanistan – two nationalities with a high chance of obtaining protection in Austria. Only 30 percent of applications from Syrians were rejected, whereas for Afghans 39 percent were refused.

READ ALSO: Border centres and ‘safe’ states: The EU’s major asylum changes explained

What does the change in profile mean for Austria?

One immediate consequence of the influx of children has already been seen in Vienna, the destination of most refugees: the school system is overwhelmed with the new arrivals, as several Austrian newspapers have reported in the last few weeks.

“This is putting such a strain on the system that high-quality teaching is hardly possible any more,” Thomas Krebs, a union representative, told Kurier. According to the report, around 300 children will arrive in Vienna every month, resulting in a need for 140 classes by the end of the school year.

The Austrian capital was already overwhelmed by a shortage of teachers and an overflow of schoolchildren—particularly since the war in Ukraine, when 4,000 children were integrated into Vienna’s schools from February 2022.

The kids coming from Syria also need more support than merely German classes: “The Syrian children who come to us from refugee camps are a particular challenge for the system. Many are traumatised and often not even literate in their own language,” Krebs said.

He added that children need to spend more time in kindergarten—to learn “the basics, not just the language.” The education expert also believes it’s necessary to invest more in extracurricular activities, where young people can learn German, acquire behavioural skills that are important for school, and learn how to spend their free time meaningfully.

READ ALSO: What’s the reason behind the drop in Austrian asylum seeker claims?

What is Vienna doing?

Vienna’s Department of Education points out that new teachers are being recruited. In the current academic year, 2,400 teachers have been hired, Kurier reported.

Director of Education Heinrich Himmer said: “We support pupils and face the challenges together so that learning and living together work well. I would like to thank everyone who works so hard in Vienna’s schools. However, the responsibility for integration is an all-Austrian one, where solutions exist at the federal level.”

How does family reunification work?

There is a special process for granting family reunification rights for family members of refugees in Austria.

According to information from the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum, if a foreigner has been granted asylum status in Austria, family members can apply for an entry permit at an Austrian representation authority abroad within three months of this status being granted.

If this is granted, they can travel to Austria to apply for asylum in the family procedure and receive the same protection status as the reference person. If the application is only submitted after three months, they must also provide proof of adequate accommodation, health insurance, and income.

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