Tense atmosphere

Parliament: Fights of words and apologies

The debates in the 15th session of the Carinthian state parliament were more heated than usual.

(Bild: Rojsek-Wiedergut Uta)

If the Carinthian state parliament sessions are usually civilized, the 15th meeting of the members of parliament on Thursday was a bit of a mixed bag. There were various reasons for this...

It took two threatened calls to order, demanded apologies and several reminders to return to objective discussion on Thursday in the Carinthian state parliament session. Could the upcoming EU elections next Sunday be on the politicians' minds?

Fittingly, the topic of the current hour was "EU funding as a driver for Carinthia's future projects" - the Social Democrats were allowed to propose the topic! A circumstance that did not suit FP MP Gernot Darmann at all: "Our proposed topic 'Asylum chaos: measures against imported violence in Europe' was rejected because, according to Parliament President Rohr, it was a judgment". Criticism of Parliament President Rohr was not spared: "We have to point out an extremely questionable and hair-raising approach here - this is no way to deal with an opposition!" Rohr defended himself: "I have to adhere to the rules of procedure, which state that negative formulations are not to be accepted during topical hours."

Carinthia as a net recipient of the EU?
The comments by Herwig Seiser (SPÖ) that Carinthia is a net recipient of EU funds also led to discussions: "Two billion euros net have flowed to Carinthia to date". Angerer saw things differently and had a calculation example ready: "In 2022, 3.5 billion flowed from Austria to Brussels, 2.2 billion came back. That results in a delta of 1.3 billion. That's 144 euros per capita that we pay to Brussels!" While ÖVP parliamentary group chairman Markus Malle agrees with his coalition partner: "Yes, Carinthia is a net recipient of the European Union!", Team Carinthia is critical: "This EU is no longer a powerful engine by far!", and Carinthia is not a model pupil when it comes to withdrawing subsidies.

I note that the Freedom Party has unwittingly told the untruth

Martin Gruber, Landeshauptmann-Stellvertreter

Apology demanded
But this was not to be the only conflict: FP parliamentary group chairman Erwin Angerer demanded an apology from state vice-chairman Martin Gruber (ÖVP) - Gruber had previously spoken of "lies and false figures" with which the Freedom Party was "dividing and driving society apart". After a pause for reflection, Gruber casually corrected: "I note that the Freedom Party unknowingly told the untruth!" Gruber would apologize for the accusation of lying: "I blame it on ignorance!" Things quietened down after the agenda was taken up.

Two urgent motions (FP and Team Kärnten) calling for a clear "No!" to the planned EU renaturation law were also a contentious issue - the urgency was not recognized by the SPÖ and ÖVP. However, there was unanimity on the demand to improve the municipal aid package and financial equalization in negotiations with the federal government.