Parties in favor of resignation

Rosenkranz could lose the chairmanship of the National Fund

President of the National Council Walter Rosenkranz (FPÖ)

(Bild: APA/MAX SLOVENCIK)

The government has decided that the National Fund for Victims of National Socialism no longer has to be chaired by the President of the National Council. Walter Rosenkranz (FPÖ) could now withdraw or be removed from the role. Previously, there had been repeated calls for his resignation.

In future, the National Council will also be able to elect the Second or Third President of the National Council as Chairman. These are currently Peter Haubner (ÖVP) and Doris Bures (SPÖ). However, the First President of the National Council could also only be represented for certain matters. The government has now agreed on a change together with the Greens, while the FPÖ opposed it.

The tasks of the National Fund are to provide compensation to victims, survivors and descendants. These are not only very important to the FPÖ, but also to Walter Rosenkranz, the party announced. "The fact that he is now to be de facto excluded from the chairmanship by this new law is not a contribution to reconciliation and a culture of remembrance, which should not be denied to anyone, especially not to the strongest democratic party in Austria," said justice spokesman Harald Stefan.

ÖVP: Jewish community refuses dialog
A change in the law is also possible without the votes of the FPÖ. In the past, there have been repeated calls for Rosenkranz to resign, for example from the Jewish Community. IKG President Oskar Deutsch has now described the planned changes as "wise", which would be "responsibility towards the victims of National Socialism." 

 "In his inaugural speech as President of the National Council, Walter Rosenkranz himself announced that he is not about to 'step aside as a person' if parts of the Jewish community in Vienna and throughout Austria refuse to engage in dialog with him," said ÖVP constitutional spokesman Wolfgang Gerstl, "accordingly, we take him at his word."

In his inaugural speech as President of the National Council, Walter Rosenkranz himself announced that he was not about to 'step aside as a person' if parts of the Jewish community in Vienna and throughout Austria refuse to engage in dialog with him.

ÖVP-Verfassungssprecher Wolfgang Gerstl

Lukas Hammer, the Greens' spokesperson on right-wing extremism, pointed out that the former office manager of the President of the National Council was under investigation for violations of the Prohibition Act. "I hope that Rosenkranz will now accept his responsibility and allow himself to be represented as a whole in order to ensure that the National Fund continues to cooperate well with the victims' representatives," said Sabine Schatz, SPÖ spokesperson for the culture of remembrance.