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Austrian presidential elections: Who are the seven candidates?

Austrians will have a large selection of candidates to be the next leader at the Hofburg presidential palace, with a record number of seven men running to be Austria's next head of state. But who are they?

Published: 1 September 2022 12:00 CEST
Updated: 9 October 2022 08:25 CEST
Austrian presidential elections: Who are the seven candidates?
Austria's Hofburg, the residence and work place of the president. (Photo by Jörg Bauer on Unsplash)

Austria’s presidential election will take place on October 9th with seven candidates vying to take over at the Hofburg – the official workplace of the country’s president.

That reflects the highest number of candidates ever to stand for the election.

All of them are men, all are white and all Austrians of course. The youngest is 35 years old, and the oldest is 78.

Besides the current president, Alexander Van der Bellen, six other men are also vying for the job: Walter Rosenkranz, supported by the right-wing party FPÖ, Dominik Wlazny, from the left-leaning Bierpartei, Michael Brunner, supported by the “neutral” MFG, Gerald Grosz, formerly FPÖ/BZÖ, and Tassilo Wallentin and Heinrich Staudinger, both not affiliated to any parties.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How does Austria’s presidential election work?

Who are the candidates?

Alexander Van der Bellen, 78 years old, is the current president of Austria and is running for reelection. He was a spokesman for the Austrian Green Party but paused his affiliation while acting as president.

Born in Vienna to an Austrian father and an Estonian mother, he spent most of his childhood studying economics in Tyrol.

Walter Rosenkranz, 60 years old, is affiliated with the right-wing FPÖ party and was a member of the National Council until 2019. He was that year sworn in as Volksanwalt (public prosecutor).

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Who are MFG – Austria’s vaccine-sceptic party?

Dominik Wlazny, 35 years old, is known by his artistic name Marco Pogo. Wlazny is an Austrian musician (and doctor) and founder and chairman of left-leaning Die Bierpartei (Austria’s Beer Party).

Michael Brunner, 61 years old, is affiliated with the “neutral” MFG party, made famous for its anti-vaccine stances during the pandemic. He holds a doctorate in law from the University of Vienna.

Gerald Grosz, 45 years old, is a political columnist and a former politician for the FPÖ and the BZÖ.

Tassilo Wallentin, 48 years old, is running independently. He is a lawyer who studied at the University of Salzburg and the United States.

Heinrich Staudinger, 69 years old, is an Austrian businessman running independently for his first elections.

What does the Austrian President do?

The Federal President is the head of state of the Austrian Republic. Their role is to represent the Austrian state and its democracy. They should provide moral support to the country and assist in integrating minorities into the political process. The president also sign bills into laws and swears in new ministers and chancellors.

In many ways, Austria’s president is compared to the role of the monarch in the UK and their political power is often viewed as symbolic.

For example, the president is not expected to intervene in the daily running of government but can make an appeal in certain situations.

A presidential mandate lasts for six years and they can only run for reelection once.

Can I vote in these elections?

Probably not. Some 18 percent of residents (or 1.4 million people) in Austria over the age of 16 do not have the right to vote because they are not citizens. The highest concentration of people who are not entitled to vote is in Vienna, Innsbruck and Salzburg.

In comparison, 20 years ago, Austria had just 580,000 people without the right to vote.

Only Austrian citizens aged 16 are allowed to vote in the presidential elections.

READ ALSO: Austrian presidential elections: Why 1.4 million people can’t vote

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MIGRANT CRISIS

How a change in the profile of asylum seekers is impacting Austria

The number of asylum applications has dropped in Austria, but changes in the profile of those arriving are creating new demands and new policies.

Published: 22 April 2024 16:05 CEST
How a change in the profile of asylum seekers is impacting Austria

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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