In the "Krone" podcast

Chancellor on the FPÖ: “We’re talking about treason here”

In the podcast "Super Election Year", Karl Nehammer also talks about the economic slump and caliphate demos.

(Bild: Reinhard Holl)

132 days until the election: Find out why Nehammer feels reminded of times gone by with the FPÖ and what he thinks about the Lena Schilling case in the "Krone" podcast "Super Election Year".

"Krone": Mr. Nehammer, last weekend you called for DNA tests to curb family reunification. Health Minister Johannes Rauch called this demand frivolous because these DNA tests already exist. Was the demand pure populism or did your cabinet overlook this detail?
Karl Nehammer: The super election year seems to have limited the ability to listen carefully. Because I have said that DNA checks must be stepped up. I have instructed the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to tighten up controls. What does that mean in concrete terms? In my view, a DNA test must be carried out even if there is the slightest doubt. The documents must be checked very carefully and more document examiners must be made available to ensure that only family members actually find their way to Austria. That is what I said. The question is always whether it wants to be heard.

The super election year is likely to mean that meaningful listening will only work to a limited extent.

Karl Nehammer über die Auswirkungen der aktuellen politischen Debatte.

There is another topic that has heated things up this week. The letter to NATO together with Switzerland, Ireland and Malta. A two-page letter was sent to NATO to promote cooperation. The opposition is talking about joining through the back door ...
 To be clear: There is no rapprochement with NATO. The reactions are overdramatized and again due to the excitement of a super election year. What is it all about? The Partnership for Peace has been around for a long time. This is the opportunity for non-NATO countries to participate in NATO projects and cross-security measures.

In the podcast "Super Election Year", Karl Nehammer also talks about the economic downturn and caliphate demos.

(Bild: Reinhard Holl)

In my view, that makes a lot of sense. There is always international cooperation, including on behalf of the UN or a European peacekeeping mission, where it is important to have the same standard and to be able to communicate with each other very quickly in crises. It is important to be able to act together quickly. That's what it's all about. That is why all neutral states - including Switzerland - are included. It is a further development of the Partnership for Peace, it is more security and has nothing to do with a rapprochement with NATO. This political connotation is only being used to deliberately unsettle people. I think that is wrong, it is about more security for Austria through cooperation, but it is not about moving closer to NATO.

There is no rapprochement with NATO.

Karl Nehammer will aber mit der Schweiz, Irland und Malta verstärkt zusammenarbeiten.

Vorarlberg's Governor Markus Wallner will introduce an asylum code for asylum seekers on June 1st. The provinces would like the code to be introduced throughout Austria so that the conditions are the same everywhere. What is actually so difficult about this?
The code is in line with my efforts to think bigger, namely with the issue of Leitkultur. It is important to be clear about what we stand for in Austria, what is important to us, what has happened in recent decades, where have we learned from the mistakes of history that shaped and molded a new society after the Second World War. And people have to take note of this and accept it when they come to our country. They do so voluntarily because Austria is not a border country, but a landlocked country in the EU. It is therefore important to address this issue at a national level, but of course it also makes sense for the federal states to establish rules in their respective areas of responsibility.

Markus Wallner and Karl Nehammer at an opening in Dornbirn

(Bild: Mathis Fotografie)

Another refugee deal has now been concluded with Lebanon. The EU is paying Lebanon one billion euros. Don't such deals make us incredibly dependent?
There is no other way than to conclude such agreements with third countries. I think they are very important and essential. Why is that important? Only if the states see that they themselves also benefit from cooperating with the EU will we have a chance of combating organized crime and curbing this form of illegal migration. Lebanon is also a very sensitive example because the mood in Lebanon is currently tipping against the Syrian refugees. They have a social challenge that needs to be addressed. That's why it's right to help Lebanon. The main aim of aid on the ground is to prevent a new migration movement from arising in the first place. In general, we need to work much more on how we can carry out asylum procedures in third countries outside the EU in the future - we also need international cooperation for this ...

Let's move on to the fall. We ask, even though we know we won't get a concrete answer: What would be your preferred coalition partner?
First the voters have their say, only then comes the step of analyzing which majorities are at all feasible and then come the coalition negotiations. 

Herbert Kickl (right) crosses Nehammer's red lines.

(Bild: APA/Robert Jäger)

But you exclude at least certain people - namely Herbert Kickl ...
 My position is clear: there are substantive red lines and there are red lines that are linked to personalities. You can see the radicalization and the will to divide on the left and right fringes. It is also evident in the language that people prefer to incite rather than calm down when a dangerous situation arises. The ÖVP's red lines in terms of content are very clear: with us, there will be no wealth and inheritance taxes. Juvenile criminal law must be tightened. Anyone who can rape at the age of twelve can also face the consequences and go to prison at the age of twelve. Then there are people in politics who have become radicalized and believe in conspiracy theories. There are plenty of videos online of press conferences where the WHO is defamed or the World Economic Forum in Davos is denounced as a meeting of the new world rulers. We've actually had all this in the past - it makes me think. There are boundaries that have to be drawn.

If you can rape at the age of twelve, you can also suffer the consequences and go to prison at the age of twelve.

Karl Nehammer übers Jugendstrafrecht

When you say we've been through all this before, are you referring to the Nazi era?
In Austria, we've had phases and periods of radicalization, brutalization of language, exclusion of others. Austria was distinguished by the fact that we overcame all these excesses with the founding of the Second Republic. Even the two formerly hostile camps of the major parties in the 1930s have found a way to deal with each other in such a way that there is no more escalation on the streets. But if you look at how some people are acting now, how much they are radicalizing and how they are using difficult times to scare people, then that is the opposite of politically responsible action. Because it is precisely when things get difficult that crises must be met with clarity and reason - not fear.

Does it frustrate you that you are still suffering the consequences of your predecessor's various scandals in the polls? On the other hand, the involvement in the Ott espionage case or a new advertising affair, in which all former FPÖ ministers are accused, does not seem to mean a slump in the polls for the FPÖ ...
 On the one hand, investigations into very serious allegations are in full swing. We are talking about treason here. It's worth taking a closer look. I find it strange - like the way the Freedom Party handled the friendship treaty with Putin's party. It is striking that there was direct contact with a suspected spy of the Russian Federation. You can see that the Russian Federation is obviously prepared to intervene directly in a country's democratic political process. It is important to take a close look here, because democracy is at stake.

We are talking about treason here. It is also worth taking a closer look.

Nehammer in Richtung FPÖ und Ott

There are only 130 days until the election. The EU election campaign is currently underway. The Green top candidate Lena Schilling is facing massive accusations about her private life. Is everything private political and everything political also private?
I am generally a fan of being tough on issues, but reasonable in my dealings with one another. All smear campaigns that slide into the private sphere ultimately have one result: politics itself is damaged. The mood of debate becomes radicalized ...