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VIENNA ELECTIONS

POLITICS

SPÖ clear winner in Vienna election

The centre-left SPÖ has won the Vienna state election but the far-right Freedom Party has made significant gains and recorded its best ever result in the capital.

Published: 11 October 2015 18:16 CEST
SPÖ clear winner in Vienna election
Michael Häupl. Photo: SPÖ Wien

The Social Democrats (SPÖ), which have ruled Vienna uninterrupted since 1945, scored 39.4 percent, down 4.9 points, while the Freedom Party (FPÖ) rose 5.3 points to 31 percent.

The Green party is projected to have won 11.6 percent (down 1 point) and the centre-right People's Party (ÖVP) 8.7 percent (down 5.3) – its worst ever result. The ÖVP's top candidate Manfred Juraczka has said he will step down.

The moderate Neos party made the most gains and looks set to win 6.2 percent and its first seat in the city council.

Opinion polls before the election had forecast a much closer result, with even a victory for the FPÖ on the back of unease among voters about Europe's refugee crisis.

The result, if confirmed, would in theory make possible a continuation of the SPÖ's coalition in Vienna with the ecologist Greens – together they would have 54 seats in the city council.

“Of course we would have preferred a neck-and-neck result, but this didn't happen. At the same time it has to be said that this is the SPÖ's worst result in its history,” said FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache, 46.

“I said before (the election) that I was ready to assume the responsibility of becoming mayor. Today it wasn't enough yet, but we took a step closer,” he said.

Opinion polls before the election had forecast a much closer result, with even a victory for the FPÖ a possibility.

Voter turnout was high, at around 74 percent. A major issue for voters – mirrored across Europe – has been the arrival of hundreds of thousands of refugees into the continent this year.

A survey released on Sunday, which was commissioned by Austria's national public broadcaster, showed that for 65 percent of voters in Vienna, the migrant crisis was a major issue in deciding whom to vote for.

Help 'our poor'

Austria has seen more than 200,000 migrants enter the country since the beginning of September, most of whom travel onwards to Germany or Scandinavia.

But the government still expects some 85,000 asylum claims this year, making the Alpine country of 8.5 million people one of the highest recipients in Europe on a per-capita basis.

Strache, a former dental technician, has called for Austria to copy Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and put fences up on the borders – something rejected by Chancellor Werner Faymann of the SPÖ.

“Every property owner does this with his house, putting a fence around his garden and not leaving the doors and windows open, so unwelcome guests don't come,” Strache said earlier this year.

But emulating Marine Le Pen, the head of France's far-right National Front, Strache has also toned down the anti-immigration rhetoric seen in earlier campaigns in his ten years as FPÖ head.

Gone are the slogans vilifying Islam. The posters all over Vienna were more subtle: “Help for our poor”, they declare, adding in smaller letters “Instead of open doors for economic migrants”.

“Security for our people,” reads another, below a grinning Strache. “Instead of open borders for criminals”.

At the same time, Strache campaigned on traditional SPÖ issues like alleviating poverty and more affordable rents, while even encroaching on liberal topics like slashing bureaucracy.

“He has shifted his political discourse,” political analyst Anton Pelinka told AFP. “The xenophobic root was still there, but in a more latent form.”

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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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