In a press conference Monday afternoon, Austrian Interior Minister Herbert Kickl (FPÖ) outlined his plans for “Sicherungshaft,” a legal change that would allow preventative detention for refugees deemed to pose a danger to Austrian society by the government. The measure comes in the wake of a knife attack in the Vorarlberg city of Dornbirn, in which a Turkish […]
Why Austria’s Millennial Minister Sebastian Kurz Could be Dangerous
By Yaël Ossowski | Metropole Magazine On Saturday, July 1st, in a muted and highly uncontested leadership election in Linz, Austria, 30-year-old Sebastian Kurz secured 98.7 percent of the vote to head the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) before October’s elections. A mere three days later, the headlines surrounding Kurz were far less flattering. A scandal […]
Austria’s millennial leader in waiting may surprise by embracing the far-right
By Yaël Ossowski Last Saturday, in a muted and highly uncontested leadership election in Linz, Austria, 30-year-old Sebastian Kurz secured 98.7 percent of the vote to head the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) before October’s elections. Well-dressed and soft-spoken in a posh Viennese accent, the young Minister of Foreign Affairs and Integration unveiled his platform and […]