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Rail boss Kern looks set to be new Austrian chancellor

Signs grew Thursday that Austria's Social Democrats (SPÖ) will pick as chancellor the head of the national rail company, Christian Kern, following Werner Faymann's resignation.

Published: 12 May 2016 13:24 CEST

Rail boss Kern looks set to be new Austrian chancellor

ÖBB Sabine Hauswirth

Faymann, 56, quit on Monday two weeks after a historic debacle in the first round of an election for the largely ceremonial post of president at the hands of the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ).

Regional bosses of the SPÖ, which is in an unhappy “grand coalition” with the centre-right People's Party (ÖVP), will discuss the issue on Friday, a party spokesman told AFP.

“The decision by the SPÖ's federal board will come on Tuesday. The designated candidate will then be sworn in by the president,” Matthias Euler-Rolle said.

He declined to comment on who might be chosen, but a majority of regional party organisations have spoken out in support of the 50-year-old Kern.

The Kurier daily reported online that the mayor of Vienna, Michael Haeupl, an SPÖ heavyweight, has thrown his weight behind him.

The SPÖ and ÖVP have dominated Austrian politics since 1945 but support has been falling for years, and they only just managed to scratch together a majority at the last general election in 2013.

Like elsewhere in Europe, they have been bleeding support to fringe groups, in particular to the populist FPÖ after almost a million migrants passed through Austria last year.

The FPÖ under Heinz-Christian Strache is leading opinion polls with more than 30 percent, compared to the low 20s for the SPÖ and ÖVP, ahead of the next election scheduled for 2018.

Faymann took a harder line on migrants in recent months, but this failed to boost his support and alienated many in the SPÖ, particularly those in the left wing of the party.

The final straw was the first round of the presidential election on April 24 when the FPÖ's Norbert Hofer scored 35 percent and the main parties' candidates won a dismal 11 percent each.

Hofer, 45, portrayed as a friendly face of the FPÖ, will take on Alexander van der Bellen, 72, the professorial former head of the Greens, in a runoff on May 22.

Van der Bellen warned on Thursday that Austria risked becoming a “blue republic” — in reference to the FPÖ's colours — if Hofer becomes head of state.

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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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