EU election

Voters are most concerned about security

In the election on June 9, the focus will be on asylum policy in particular.

(Bild: Karl Grammer)

72 percent of Burgenlanders want to cast their vote on June 9. The current priority is no longer climate protection, but asylum policy.

Burgenland and the EU are a chapter of their own. Hardly any other federal state has benefited so much from funding from Brussels. "While the benefits of EU membership still predominate in the perception of the population, skepticism is nevertheless increasing as to whether more joint action at European level is the right way forward," explains Paul Schmidt, Secretary General of the Austrian Society for European Politics (ÖGfE).

New Burgenland survey
His summary reflects a recent online survey of 600 Burgenlanders between the ages of 16 and 80. According to the survey, 38% of participants are convinced that Austria's EU membership has mainly positive aspects for Burgenland. In summer 2021, 47% were still of this opinion.

The population is concerned about security. The EU's asylum and migration policy is a particularly strong focus in Burgenland.

Paul Schmidt von der Gesellschaft für Europapolitik

Bild: ANDREAS TROESTER

At the same time, the number of those for whom the negative aspects predominate has risen - from 17% to 24%. 38% say that it makes no difference to Burgenland whether Austria is a member of the EU or not.

Joint action
37% are of the opinion that more joint action is needed at European level in order to tackle the challenges ahead. 50 percent, on the other hand, hope that the nation states will have a stronger voice.

13% are not sure on this issue. In short, in three years, the number of those who support "more Europe" has fallen by eleven percent and the number of those who want more independence for EU member states has risen by five percent.

Asylum policy important
72% of Burgenland residents announced that they would "definitely" or "probably" cast their vote on June 9. Most of all, Burgenlanders want a common asylum and migration policy (52%), greater cooperation between member states in terms of security and defense (51%), a narrowing of the gap between rich and poor (47%) and a reform of the EU (41%). Climate and environmental protection - still in third place in 2021 with 61% - has now slipped to fifth place with 36%.

In terms of domestic policy, the SPÖ provincial parliamentary group is calling for rapid implementation of the EU migration and asylum pact.

As a control instrument, we have called for an upper limit of 10,000 asylum applications for 2024. At the end of April, 9,173 applications had already been received. If this continues, Austria will soon be back at the top of the list, including in terms of positive asylum decisions.

SPÖ-Klubobmann Roland Fürst mit Kritik an der ÖVP

Solutions required
Fürst refers to a position paper on the topics of asylum, migration, integration and border protection, which the SPÖ was the only party in Burgenland to present at the beginning of this year: "We are demanding solutions from the federal government, as the state has almost no competence in this area."