Sebastian Kurz
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Sebastian Kurz (; born 27 August 1986) is a former Austrian politician who twice served as
chancellor of Austria The chancellor of the Republic of Austria () is the head of government of the Republic of Austria. The position corresponds to that of Prime Minister in several other parliamentary democracies. Current officeholder is Karl Nehammer of the Aus ...
, initially from December 2017 to May 2019 and then a second time from January 2020 to October 2021. Kurz was born and raised in
Meidling Meidling () is the 12th district of Vienna (german: 12. Bezirk, Meidling). It is located just southwest of the central districts, south of the Wienfluss, west of the Gürtel belt, and east and southeast of Schönbrunn palace. Meidling is a heav ...
,
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
. He entered politics by joining the Young People's Party (JVP) in 2003 and rose through the ranks there over the following years. As a result of a cabinet reshuffle in 2011, Kurz received his first government mandate as state secretary responsible for socially integrating refugees. After the 2013 legislative election, Kurz became the country's
foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
and remained its top diplomat until December 2017. In May 2017, Kurz succeeded ÖVP chairman
Reinhold Mitterlehner Reinhold Mitterlehner (born 10 December 1955) is an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) who served as minister of economy in Austria's government from 2008 until 2017. In September 2014 he also became vice chancellor of A ...
and ran as chancellor candidate of his party in the 2017 legislative election. He campaigned on modernizing the Austrian political and bureaucratic apparatus as well as handling the social and immigration issues the country was facing after the
European refugee crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to request ...
. His perceived reformist approach, rhetorical skills and youth were cited as the prime reasons for his landslide victory. Kurz was subsequently charged with forming his first cabinet. He opted for a
coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...
with the far-right
Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...
(FPÖ). During his first chancellorship, Kurz was credited with mostly following through on his campaign pledges, but his leadership style was widely criticised as uncooperative and hasty. Several political scandals, culminating with the
Ibiza affair The Ibiza affair (german: Ibiza-Affäre), also known as Ibiza-gate, was a political scandal in Austria involving Heinz-Christian Strache, the former vice chancellor of Austria and leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ), and Johann Gudenus, a deput ...
in 2019, ended the ÖVP–FPÖ coalition. As a result of him no longer commanding the support of Parliament, Kurz and his Cabinet were ousted. Following the 2019 snap election, he returned to power and formed a coalition with the environmentalist
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
this time. Kurz and his second cabinet were inaugurated in January 2020. Their agenda, however, was swiftly put in limbo by the surging
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. His response to the pandemic included
lockdowns A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison ...
and curfews. An investigation into the Ibiza affair by a parliamentary subcommittee, an unstable Cabinet plagued by resignations, and ultimately a corruption inquiry, forced Kurz to resign the chancellorship in October 2021. However, remaining party chair and parliamentary leader allowed him to retain control over government affairs, and thus he came to be known as "shadow chancellor". Two months later, Kurz quit politics entirely and started working as a global strategist for
Peter Thiel Peter Andreas Thiel (; born 11 October 1967) is a German-American billionaire entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and political activist. A co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, he was the first outside investor in Fac ...
. Kurz was the youngest chancellor in Austrian history as well as the youngest head of government in the world for about four years. His youth and political tenor were credited with revitalizing the traditional conservative movement in Austria, and to a larger extent in Europe.


Personal life

Kurz was born in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
, the only child of Elisabeth () and Josef Kurz. His father is an engineer and his mother is a grammar school teacher. Kurz's maternal grandmother Magdalena Müller, born 1928 in
Temerin Temerin ( sr-Cyrl, Темерин; hu, Temerin, ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina in Serbia. The town has a population of 19,613, while the municipality has a population of ...
,
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
(today
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...
, Serbia), is a Danube Swabian who fled from the city and settled in Zogelsdorf (today in Austria) during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, after the
Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...
and the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
started to liberate the territory that was then occupied by the
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
. Kurz was brought up in
Meidling Meidling () is the 12th district of Vienna (german: 12. Bezirk, Meidling). It is located just southwest of the central districts, south of the Wienfluss, west of the Gürtel belt, and east and southeast of Schönbrunn palace. Meidling is a heav ...
, the 12th district of Vienna, where he still lives. He obtained his Matura certificate in 2004, completed compulsory military service in 2005, and began studying law at the
University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
the same year. Later, he dropped out of university and focused on his political career. Kurz is in a relationship with economics teacher Susanne Thier; they have a son named Konstantin together.


Early career


Youth branch

Kurz had been a member of the Young People's Party (JVP) since 2003 and was 'sponsored' by Markus Figl. From 2008 to 2012, he was chairman of Young People's Party of Vienna. As chairman, he led the youth arm of the electoral campaign of the
Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...
(ÖVP) into the 2010 Viennese state election and coined the electoral campaign's controversial slogan "black makes oucool" (''Schwarz macht geil''), a play on the official party color as well as the colloquial term "''geil''" which literally translates to "horny". Kurz used a black painted SUV termed the "''Geilomobil''" (cool/horny automobile) for official campaign trips in Vienna. Kurz was elected chairman of the Austrian JVP at a federal party convention in 2009, where he received 99 percent of the vote; five years later he was reelected with 100 percent. In 2017, attorney Stefan Schnöll succeeded Kurz as chairman. From 2009 to 2016, Kurz served as a deputy co-chair of the Viennese People's Party. From 2010 to 2011, he was a member of the Viennese State and Municipality Diet, where he focused on "generational equality and fair pensions", before being nominated as state secretary of the
Interior Ministry An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...
for
integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...
in June 2011, ensuing a reshuffle of the
first Faymann cabinet The first government of Werner Faymann was sworn in on December 2, 2008. Following the resignation of Vice Chancellor and ÖVP party chairman Josef Pröll from all political functions, a cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs ...
. Following the 2013 Austrian legislative election, in which he won the most direct votes of any candidate, he briefly served as a member of the
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. In December 2013, Kurz resigned his parliamentary seat to become the country's youngest
foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
at age 27.


State Secretary

Kurz opined that a healthy and open relation between the government and religious communities was pivotal for
social integration Social integration is the process during which newcomers or minorities are incorporated into the social structure of the host society. Social integration, together with economic integration and identity integration, are three main dimensions of ...
. During his first months as state secretary for integration, Kurz suggested several policy changes, including a second obligatory
preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...
year for students with poor language skills. In 2011, the Foreign Ministry, the Austrian Integration Fund and the
Education Ministry An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
launched the joint venture ''Zusammen:Österreich'' (''Together:Austria''), which aimed at familiarizing immigrants with Austrian culture and traditions, and sought to convey Western tenets, such as
religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
and
democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
. ''Zusammen:Österreich'' deployed so-called "integration ambassadors" to public schools, which were responsible for furthering immigrant children's "identification with Austria" through dialog. During his term as state secretary, Kurz received an annual budget totaling €15 million as of 2011. The budget was raised to €100 million by 2017. The surge was primarily the result of a large-scale expansion of German language classes by the government.


Foreign Minister

Following the 2013 legislative election, Kurz replaced
Michael Spindelegger Michael Spindelegger (born 21 December 1959) is an Austrian politician. He served in the cabinet of Chancellor Werner Faymann as foreign minister of Austria from 2008 to 2013 and as finance minister from 2013 to 2014; additionally, he held the o ...
as head of the
Foreign Ministry In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
. In March 2014, the Foreign Ministry also became responsible for
integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...
-related issues. Kurz declared the improvement of Austria's relation with the
Western Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
one of his top policy priorities. "For historical reasons" a committed relation with
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and the Jewish community were also 'imperative' to Kurz. During a visit to
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
in February 2014, he reaffirmed – in part because of national economic and political interests – Austria's continued support for the accession of
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
to the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
(EU). In November 2014, Kurz launched the "''#stolzdrauf''" campaign, which sought to encourage people in displaying patriotism on social media. Among the supporters of the campaign were celebrities, such as the former
Miss Austria Miss Austria is a national Beauty pageant in Austria. History Began in 1929 the Miss Österreich managed by Illustriate Kronen Zeitug Agency. Since then the winner went to International Pageant of Pulchritude or famously called as ''Miss Univer ...
Amina Dagi Amina Dagi (born Amina Mirzakhanova; russian: Амина Мирзаханова; 12 February 1995) is an Austrian model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Austria 2012. She competed at the Miss World 2012 pageant and was appoint ...
and musician
Andreas Gabalier Andreas Gabalier (born next to Friesach on 21 November 1984) is an Austrian folk singer. In 2012, he won the ECHO music award in folk music category, the Amadeus Austrian Music Award in 2012 as Best Live Act and Best Schlager Singer and in ...
, according to the ''
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...
''. Former president
Heinz Fischer Heinz Fischer Order of Prince Henry, GColIH Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, OMRI Royal Order of the Seraphim, RSerafO Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, GCollSE (; born 9 October 1938) is a former Austrian politician. He took off ...
,
Austrian Airlines Austrian Airlines AG, often shortened to Austrian, is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. The airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where it also maintains its ...
, the Jewish Community and the Islamic Religious Community were also involved in some form. The campaign was officially launched at a press conference which was later jeopardized by the
alt-right The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...
identitarian movement The Identitarian movement or Identitarianism is a pan-European nationalism, nationalist, far-right political ideology asserting the right of Ethnic groups in Europe, European ethnic groups and white peoples to Western culture and territories c ...
. The amount of money invested by the Foreign Ministry on the campaign's promotion were heavily criticized; expenditures totaled €326,029 in only five to six weeks, 55% of which were spent on boulevard and free newspaper advertisements. On 25 February 2015,
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
passed an amendment to the Islam law. The changes bar foreign funding of Islamic religious associations, and were strongly criticised by the Muslim community. It also granted Muslims the right to pastoral care in the military, prisons, hospitals and nursing homes. A German translation of the
Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...
, which had been sought by Kurz, was not included. In June 2015, Kurz proposed to readjust child benefits received by foreign EU citizens – who work in Austria but whose children remained in their home country – so that it would match the price level of their country. In addition, European foreigners should "pay their fair share for a few years" before being eligible to enroll in Austrian social insurance programs. The
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...
(SPÖ) opposed this suggestion but agreed that the exploitation of child benefit programs needed to end. The Freedom Party (FPÖ) welcomed the proposal. The
Green party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
accused Kurz of "adopting the FPÖ's hate mentality". At the end of June 2015, Kurz introduced a long-term policy plan to shut down embassies in
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
,
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
,
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
, and
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
by autumn 2018 and simultaneously open new ones in
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
,
Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
,
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
, and
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
. His plans also included a second
Consulate General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. In January 2016, in an interview with the daily newspaper ''
Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...
'', Kurz stated "it is understandable that many politicians are afraid of 'ugly pictures' when it comes to border security. However, we cannot simply cede the responsibilities we have regarding our borders to
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
, because we don't want to get our hands dirty. 'Ugly pictures' are unavoidable". The
Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
MEP Michel Reimon quoted the latter part in the caption of a photo showing the deceased refugee boy
Aylan Kurdi Alan Kurdi (born as Alan Shenu), initially reported as Aylan Kurdi, was a two-year-old Syrian boy (initially reported as having been three years old) of Kurdish ethnic background whose image made global headlines after he drowned on 2 September 2 ...
, which went viral on
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
. Reimon also referred to Kurz as an "inhumane cynic". An ÖVP spokesperson commented: "it is despicable that the Green party exploits the death of this little boy to promote their ideological stances", Aylan had died at a time "where border security did not exist yet". The Foreign Ministry's Recognition & Evaluation Act was passed by Parliament in July 2016. It allows for the recognition of qualifications acquired abroad as well as the conversion of foreign
academic certificate An academic certificate is a document that certifies that a person has received specific education or has passed a test or series of tests. In many countries, a certificate is a qualification attained in secondary education. For instance, studen ...
s into domestic ones. During commemorations and military parades to mark the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Kurz visited
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
on 5 May 2015, followed by a visit to
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
where he met
Russian Foreign Minister The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation is a high-ranking Russian government official who heads the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. The foreign minister is one of the five so-called 'presidential' minist ...
Sergei Lavrov Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (russian: Сергей Викторович Лавров, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat and politician who has served as the Foreign Minister of Russia since 2004. Lavrov served as the Permanent Represe ...
. He described the annexation of Crimea and Russia's support of Eastern Ukrainian separatists as "contrary to international law". Kurz explained that a softening of EU sanctions would be declined without prior local improvements of the situation and that the implementation of the
Minsk II The Minsk agreements were a series of international agreements which sought to end the Donbas war fought between armed Russian separatist groups and Armed Forces of Ukraine, with Russian regular forces playing a central part. The first, know ...
agreement by Russia was imperative. He added that peace could only be achieved "with and not against Russia". In June 2016, he voiced his support for a proposal made by then-German Foreign Minister
Frank-Walter Steinmeier Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician serving as President of Germany since 19 March 2017. He was previously Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017, as well as Vice Chan ...
to gradually withdraw sanctions in return for promises kept by Russia regarding the Minsk agreement. In May 2016, Kurz visited Israel and met with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
. The trip marked 60 years of diplomatic relations between Austria and Israel. Netanyahu and Kurz signed a working holiday visa agreement as well as several arrangements on bilateral educational and cultural issues. In November 2016, Kurz expressed his gratitude as a representative of the
European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...
in a campaign rally of the Macedonian sister party
VMRO-DPMNE Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity ( mk, Внатрешна македонска револуционерна организација – Демократска партија за ...
for supporting the closure of the Western Balkans route, which was later criticized as an indirect election endorsement. In March 2017, Kurz referred to rescue operations in the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
as "NGO insanity", as these would "lead to more refugees dying instead of fewer". Intrigued by the Australian refugee model, Kurz repeatedly demanded that refugees rescued in the Mediterranean Sea should no longer be taken to mainland Italy, but transferred to refugee camps outside of Europe. EU border patrol agency
Frontex The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, also known as Frontex (from French: ''Frontières extérieures'' for "external borders"), is an agency of the European Union headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, exercising in coordination with the borde ...
supported his proposal, while most NGOs opposed it. In March 2017, the Council of Ministers approved the Integration Act, which was enacted by Parliament two month later. It introduced German language classes for immigrants as well as mandatory "language and value" courses for refugees, and prohibits the distribution of the
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
by
Salafists The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
in public areas. It also banned full face veils in public spaces. In May 2017, an integration ambassador criticized Kurz's immigration policy. According to a survey conducted by magazine Bum Media, two-thirds of the integration ambassadors disagreed with his policy objectives, especially the ban on full face veils. Under Kurz's term, the cabinet agreed to up funds made available for bilateral relation building from €75 to roughly €150 million by 2021. At the end of 2016, the Foreign Ministry announced that it had discontinued governmental endowment of ''Südwind Magazin'', which had been published monthly since 1979, for the association ''Südwind Entwicklungspolitik''. This was widely condemned, as it put the magazine in grave financial peril and reportedly undermined
freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...
in Austria. The publisher of the magazine considered the move "politically idiotic". As foreign minister, Kurz assumed the yearly-rotating chairmanship of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
(OSCE) in January 2017. On 18 December 2017, Kurz stepped down as foreign minister to become
chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
. He was succeeded by Karin Kneissl of the
FPÖ The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...
.


ÖVP chairmanship

In 2016, several news outlets speculated that Kurz would most likely succeed
Reinhold Mitterlehner Reinhold Mitterlehner (born 10 December 1955) is an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) who served as minister of economy in Austria's government from 2008 until 2017. In September 2014 he also became vice chancellor of A ...
as chairman of the ÖVP before the 2017 legislative election, and run as the party's chancellor candidate. In 2014, the ''
Kurier ''Kurier'' is a German-language daily newspaper based in Vienna, Austria. History and profile ''Kurier'' was founded as ''Wiener Kurier'' by the United States Forces in Austria (USFA) in 1945, during the Allied occupation after World War II. ...
'' already predicted that Kurz would run for the chancellorship in the upcoming election. On 10 May 2017, Mitterlehner abruptly tendered his resignation as party chair and
vice chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is ...
. Following Mitterlehner's departure from politics, the party's Executive Board nominated Kurz as the new chairman on 14 May. However, Kurz declined to succeed Mitterlehner as vice chancellor. Before his official confirmation, Kurz introduced the Executive Board with a list of demands, most notably the power to unilaterally craft the party's federal nominees' list for legislative elections. The Board consented to most of them, some where even enshrined into the party bylaws. The ''
Falter ''Falter'' ( en, italic=yes, Butterfly) is a weekly Austrian news magazine published in Vienna. History and profile Established in 1977, ''Falter'' is published weekly on Wednesdays. The magazine was founded by Walter Martin Kienreich. The pu ...
'' wrote that Kurz had already tested the waters regarding campaign funding before assuming the chairmanship and reported that large corporate donors pledged to endow his campaign with several millions of euros. On 1 July 2017, Kurz was officially elected chairman of the ÖVP by a Federal Party Convention, garnering 98.7% of the delegates' vote and thereby falling just short of Mitterlehner's 99.1%.


2017 legislative election

In the 2017 legislative election, the
ÖVP The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...
competed under the alias "Sebastian Kurz list – the new People's Party". Besides Kurz, other nominees on the federal list (''Bundesliste'') were
Elisabeth Köstinger Elisabeth Köstinger (born 22 November 1978) is an Austrian politician who has been serving as Minister for Agriculture, Sustainability and Tourism in the government of Chancellors Sebastian Kurz, Alexander Schallenberg, and Karl Nehammer since ...
, Josef Moser, Gaby Schwarz, Efgani Dönmez, Maria Großbauer, Rudolf Taschner, Tanja Graf, Karl Mahrer and Kira Grünberg. The first part of the election program, titled "New Justice & Responsibility" (''Neue Gerechtigkeit & Verantwortung''), was presented on 4 September 2017 and it promised tax cuts, advocated against assets and inheritance taxes and for a reduction of the minimum income obtained by people without Austrian citizenship. Already in June 2017, Kurz had announced that he would aim for a tax relief in the amount of 12 to 14 billion euros annually, counterbalanced by savings in the bureaucracy and "misguided social services", which would in particular affect child and family subsidy as well as the minimum income received by foreigners. The second part of the program, presented nine days later, comprised economics, education, research, culture and the environment. It also aimed to replace compulsory school attendance with "compulsory education". Children shall "be able to comprehensively read and know the basics of math", otherwise compulsory school attendance shall be extended up until the age of 18. In addition, there shall be a mandatory second kindergarten year for children with insufficient knowledge of the German language. And contributions to the social security system shall be reduced for people with lower incomes. On 27 September 2017, Kurz presented the third part of the election program; "Order and Security". Anyone arriving illegally shall be returned to their country of origin. If someones requires protection, they shall be harboured in a Protection Center within a third-party country. It also asked for an improved scoring system (''Punktesystem'') for legal immigration. With regards to government reforms, it wished a more clearly defined separation of responsibilities between the federal government and the state and municipality governments. It also called for structural reforms within the EU, the implementation of the security compact and tougher punishments for violence against women and incitements.


Chancellorship


First (2017–19)


Appointment

On 15 October 2017, Kurz and his party emerged as victorious from the 2017 legislative election, receiving 1,595,526 votes (31.5%) in the popular vote and thus gaining 15 additional seats, and thereby a plurality, in the
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. As the leader of the party with the most seats after the election, Kurz was charged with the formation of a new cabinet by
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Alexander Van der Bellen Alexander Van der Bellen (; born 18 January 1944) is the current president of Austria. He previously served as a professor of economics at the University of Vienna, and after joining politics, as the spokesman of the Austrian Green Party. ...
. Since he did not obtain an absolute majority in parliament, Kurz decided to look out for a coalition partner to ensure one. The search turned out rather quick and the
ÖVP The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...
entered negotiations with the right-wing to far-right
FPÖ The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...
on 25 October. Negotiations concluded successfully on 15 December and the incoming coalition presented its ministers list to the President. Van der Bellen assented and the Kurz cabinet was sworn in on 18 December 2017.


Cabinet composition

Under his first cabinet, Kurz received the chancellorship and five
ministries Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...
, while the FPÖ received the vice chancellorship and six ministries. It became the first cabinet with FPÖ participation in more than 10 years and – following the Ibiza affair – the first with
technocratic Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...
participation in more than 90 years. It was succeeded by the first only-technocratic cabinet in Austrian history. Additionally,
Herbert Kickl Herbert Kickl (born 19 October 1968) is an Austrian politician who has been leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) since June 2021. He previously served as Minister of the Interior from 2017 to 2019 and general-secretary of the FPÖ from 2 ...
became the first minister to be removed from office against their will as well as the first person serving as party leader to be excluded from re-appointment by a president.


End of term

On 17 May 2019, the
Ibiza affair The Ibiza affair (german: Ibiza-Affäre), also known as Ibiza-gate, was a political scandal in Austria involving Heinz-Christian Strache, the former vice chancellor of Austria and leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ), and Johann Gudenus, a deput ...
came to public light. The scandal involved
Vice Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is ...
and
FPÖ The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...
chairman
Heinz-Christian Strache Heinz-Christian Strache (; born 12 June 1969) is an Austrian politician and dental technician who served as Vice-Chancellor of Austria from 2017 to 2019 before resigning owing to his involvement in the Ibiza affair. He was also Minister of Civi ...
as well as FPÖ deputy chair
Johann Gudenus Johann Gudenus or Johann Baptist Björn Graf von Gudenus (born 20 July 1976) is a former Austrian politician who served as a deputy leader of the Freedom Party. Early life Born into the noble Gudenus family, he is the second born son of F ...
, who were offered political support by a woman posing as the niece of Russian oligarch Igor Makarov. The incident was recorded on camera and later published by the ''
Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. History ...
'' and ''
Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
''. The video tape showcased the openness of Strache and Gudenus to engage in
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
, their willingness to violate Austrian campaign finance law, and their aspiration to bring nonpartisan news outlets under their control. The revelation swiftly lead to national and international condemnation. The following day both, Strache and Gudenus, resigned from all positions. Kurz supported keeping the cabinet on the condition that
Herbert Kickl Herbert Kickl (born 19 October 1968) is an Austrian politician who has been leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) since June 2021. He previously served as Minister of the Interior from 2017 to 2019 and general-secretary of the FPÖ from 2 ...
be replaced. As Interior Minister, Kickl (a member of the FPÖ) would have overseen the investigation into Strache and Gudenus. Additionally, following the revelation, Kickl quickly moved to appoint his close ally,
Peter Goldgruber Peter Goldgruber (born 20 October 1960) is Austrian functionary who served as the first General Secretary of the Interior, General Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior (Austria), Ministry of the Interior, he assumed his office after the first ...
, director general for Public Security – the supreme authority of Austrian law enforcement – thus causing further controversy and public concern. The FPÖ rejected Kurz ultimatum. As a result, Kurz suspended the
coalition agreement A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
and asked President Van der Bellen to remove Kickl from office; the president assented. Following Kickl's removal, the remaining FPÖ ministers tendered their resignation, formally ending the coalition. Kurz filled the vacancies they left with
technocrats Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...
. By ending the coalition, Kurz no longer commanded a majority in Parliament. On 27 May, the
SPÖ The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
became the first party to officially introduce a
motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
against the entire cabinet (including Kurz). With the concurrence of JETZT and the FPÖ, the resolution received sufficient support to pass. In the history of Austrian republicanism, it was the first motion of no confidence against a chancellor and the entire cabinet to be successful. The next day, the president officially removed all cabinet members from office; although everyone, except for Kurz, was immediately re-appointed to serve in an acting capacity.
Finance Minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
Hartwig Löger succeeded Kurz and served until he was replaced by
Brigitte Bierlein Brigitte Bierlein (; born 25 June 1949) is an Austrian former jurist who served as Chancellor of Austria from June 2019 to January 2020. An Independent, she was the first female Chancellor of Austria. Bierlein served as the advocate general of t ...
and a caretaker cabinet less than a week later.


Second (2020–21)


Appointment

In September 2019, the
ÖVP The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...
won the 2019 legislative election in a landslide, receiving 1,789,417 votes and 37.5% of the total valid votes cast, enough for a wide plurality in the Parliament. Consequently, Kurz picked up an additional nine seats in parliament. It is the second consecutive election that the ÖVP emerged as the clear winner. As a result of the election, Kurz was again tasked with the formation of a new cabinet by President
Alexander Van der Bellen Alexander Van der Bellen (; born 18 January 1944) is the current president of Austria. He previously served as a professor of economics at the University of Vienna, and after joining politics, as the spokesman of the Austrian Green Party. ...
on 7 October. Throughout October, Kurz held several exploratory meetings with the
SPÖ The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
, the
FPÖ The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...
, NEOS, and the
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
, which had experienced a grand comeback in the 2019 legislative election, after having dropped out of the Parliament following the 2017 election, and excluding the JETZT party, which failed to secure a minimum of 4 seats to obtain parliamentary representation. On 11 November, Kurz announced that the ÖVP would enter into coalition negotiations with the Green Party. At the end of December it was reported that coalition negotiations had concluded successfully. The program for the new cabinet was introduced to the general public on 2 January 2020. The executive board of the ÖVP approved the coalition agreement the next day, the Green Party federal congress followed on 4 January. Kurz was sworn in as Chancellor by President Van der Bellen on 7 January 2020 at 10:00 UTC.


Cabinet composition

Under his second cabinet, Kurz received the chancellorship and eight
ministries Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...
, while the Green party received the vice chancellorship and four ministries. The second cabinet comprised significantly more partisan appointees and Kurz loyalists – e.g. both Blümel and Nehammer previously served as ÖVP general secretaries – than the first one. It was also the first cabinet in
Austrian history The history of Austria covers the history of Austria and its predecessor states. In the late Iron Age Austria was occupied by people of the Hallstatt culture, Hallstatt Celts, Celtic culture (c. 800 BC), they first organized as a Celtic kingdom ...
that included the Green party and the first one with a predominantly female membership.


End of term

On 6 October 2021, agents of the (WKStA) raided the Federal Chancellery and the headquarters of the ÖVP as part of a corruption probe targeting Kurz and his "inner circle". Prosecutors allege that Kurz bribed news outlets in 2016 to make anti-
Reinhold Mitterlehner Reinhold Mitterlehner (born 10 December 1955) is an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) who served as minister of economy in Austria's government from 2008 until 2017. In September 2014 he also became vice chancellor of A ...
propaganda. The bribery scheme aimed at ousting Mitterlehner who served as then-vice chancellor and chair of the ÖVP, so Kurz could take his place. In addition, the WKStA accused Kurz of misappropriating tax payer money, as bribes were allegedly diverted from
Finance Ministry A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
funds. Following the raid, opposition parties unanimously demanded Kurz' resignation and called a special session of the Parliament to vote on a
motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
. The Greens pondered supporting the motion if Kurz was unwilling to voluntarily step down but were also supportive of continuing the coalition cabinet if Kurz was replaced. On 9 October 2021, Kurz resigned the chancellorship but announced his intentions to remain party chairman and assume direct leadership of the party in the Parliament. The Greens accepted Kurz' bargain, while opposition parties strongly condemned the move and said that Kurz would continue "pulling the strings". On 11 October 2021, at 11:00 UTC, President
Alexander Van der Bellen Alexander Van der Bellen (; born 18 January 1944) is the current president of Austria. He previously served as a professor of economics at the University of Vienna, and after joining politics, as the spokesman of the Austrian Green Party. ...
officially removed Kurz from office and appointed his nominee then-Foreign Minister
Alexander Schallenberg Alexander Georg Nicolas Schallenberg (; born 20 June 1969) is an Austrian diplomat, jurist and politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Chancellor Karl Nehammer since 2021, previously holding the office from ...
chancellor of Austria.


Shadow (2021)

Following Kurz' resignation as chancellor, news outlets, political analysts and the general public briefly referred to him as "shadow chancellor" – who continued to be, in effect, chief of government – albeit Kurz himself disavowed that label. As leader of the senior party of the coalition cabinet, Kurz remained the leading lawmaker and held the power to introduce
motions of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
at will. He indirectly retained control over most
government ministries Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations used by first-level Executive (government), executive bodies in the Machinery of government, machinery of governments that manage a specific se ...
, as they were headed by partisan loyalists, who had continuously voiced their unwavering fidelity to him. On 11 October 2021, Kurz was unanimously elected parliamentary leader of the
ÖVP The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...
. Three days later, Kurz was officially sworn in as member of parliament. On 15 October, anti-corruption prosecutors filed an extradition request with the Parliament to lift his legal immunity; the ÖVP "welcomed" the request, as it would "allow Kurz to be vindicated of any allegations of corruption". In the first week of his chancellorship,
Alexander Schallenberg Alexander Georg Nicolas Schallenberg (; born 20 June 1969) is an Austrian diplomat, jurist and politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Chancellor Karl Nehammer since 2021, previously holding the office from ...
reaffirmed that he sought a close cooperation with Kurz, and that he would stick to the former chancellor's policy objectives. On 16 November 2021, a parliamentary subcommittee unanimously voted to strip Kurz of his immunity; a plenary session formally enacted the vote two days later, allowing anti-corruption prosecutors to resume the criminal probe. On 3 December 2021, Kurz resigned all of his remaining positions and quit politics entirely. He was succeeded by
Karl Nehammer Karl Nehammer (; born 18 October 1972) is an Austrian politician who is the 32nd and current Chancellor of Austria since 6 December 2021. A member of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), he previously was Minister of the Interior from 2020 to 20 ...
as party chairman and
August Wöginger August Wöginger (born 2 November 1974) is an Austrian politician currently serving as parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliament ...
as parliamentary leader. He cited his newborn son as the prime reason for this departure.


Political actions


Social issues


Family Bonus Plus Act

In June 2018, Kurz introduced a social security reform package termed the Family Bonus Plus Act, which was passed by the Parliament in July and became effective in January 2019. The act offers annual
income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
deductions for parents up to €1,500 per under aged child (€125 per month) and €500 per of age child. The act only affects parents who already receive
child benefit Child benefit or children's allowance is a social security payment which is distributed to the parents or guardians of children, teenagers and in some cases, young adults. A number of countries operate different versions of the program. In most co ...
s from the government. If at least one parent has a monthly net income of €1,350, parents become eligible for the maximum deductible amount of €1,500 per anum. The minimum deductible amount is €250 and can be claimed by every employed single parent, regardless of their monthly income; unemployed parents are ineligible for deductions. Additionally, the Family Bonus Plus Act supersedes multiple other child benefit programs, such as the Child Tax Credit which offered €600 and €440 direct grants, to couples and single parents respectively; as well as the Childcare Expenses Mitigation Program which offered parents €2,300 annually per child younger than 10 years old. The
SPÖ The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
and welfare advocates starkly condemned the reform package for "solely benefiting the well off and completely omitting the low earners and unemployed".


Social Security Act

In November 2018, the Cabinet completed drafting a major overhaul bill – affecting the
basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of a ...
and
unemployment insurance Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a comp ...
laws – known as the Social Security Act. Parliament enacted the bill in March 2019 and it took effect the following month. The act 'federalizes' the basic income; it sets the fundamental rules and minimum standards, while authorizing state governments to create
local ordinance A local ordinance is a law issued by a local government. such as a municipality, county, parish, prefecture, or the like. China In Hong Kong, all laws enacted by the territory's Legislative Council remain to be known as ''Ordinances'' () af ...
s that regulate the details. The Social Security Act introduces a nationwide basic income ceiling at €863.04 monthly for singles and €1,208.26 monthly for couples. Under the act, parents receive a complementary €215 for their first child, €129 for their second one, and €43 from the third one onward. Foreigners now become eligible for the basic income after a registered five-years stay in Austria or if they previously served as
employer Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...
s. Immigrants with a meager understanding of the German language now receive a reduced basic income of €563 per month; Kurz argued that the difference of €300 would pay for their German language classes. Immigrants that improve their language skills to German level B1 or English level C1 become qualified for the ordinary basic income. Furthermore, all recipients (except for the permanently unemployable) now have to re-apply for the basic income on an annual basis.


Social Insurance Reform Act

On 13 December 2018, as part of Kurz's campaign promise to modernize Austrian public administration, Parliament enacted a major social insurance overhaul bill introduced by his cabinet; the Social Insurance Reform Act. The bill attempts to wind down redundant bureaucratic processes by merging social insurers, laying off "superfluous functionaries", and modernizing workplaces. Kurz explained that "centralizing the social insurance system will considerably benefit the insured".Implementation began in April 2019, under the supervision of an ad hoc subcommittee of Parliament, and concluded in 2020, rendering the act fully effective. Austria has a
national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
, publicly-funded
health system Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
. Although health insurance was always national, the system was originally administered by state-level insurers. The act merges * the state-level general and specialised insurances into a federalized,
single-payer healthcare Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from ...
system (ÖGK), * the Social Insurance for Commerce (SVA) with the Social Insurance for Agriculture (SVB), to form the Social Insurance of the Self-employed and Freelancers (SVS), * the Accident Insurance of Public Servants, Accident Insurance for Railroads and Mining, and the Viennese Health Insurance for Public Transport into the Accident Insurance for Public Servants, Railroads and Mining. The Government Pension Fund (PVA) and the General Accident Insurance (AUVA) remain unchanged. While the Social Insurance Association, which oversees all social insurances, was disempowered and cut down. All opposition parties, the chairman of the Social Insurance Association and various insurance and welfare experts decried the changes, commenting "the bill would not centralize but decentralize and harm an effective and perfectly functional system, and are hence disadvantageous to the insured". The mergers cost the government approximately €300 to €400 million.


Immigration


Compulsory German language classes

On 16 May 2018, the Kurz cabinet enacted compulsory German language classes in the Parliament. As of 1 January 2019, all
primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...
(''
Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primary (' ...
'') and
secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
s (''
Hauptschule A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...
'', '' Gymnasium'') are legally required to establish mandatory German language classes (which deviate from regular classes) for children with a lacking knowledge of the German language, denoted "extraordinary students"; however, such classes are only established when there is a minimum of eight such pupils per school. Extraordinary students are determined by a nationwide test (administered by the principal) when signing up for a school, or when having entered school during a school year and being new to Austria. When tests do conclude an "insufficient" knowledge of the German language, pupils are obliged to attend German language classes for fifteen hours per week in primary schools and twenty hours per week in secondary schools. Extraordinary students would remain in these classes until a maximum tenure of four semesters or when having at least improved their skills to an "inadequate" knowledge of the German language; their language level would be examined every semester through a ministerial test. Such students would attend joint subjects, such as drawing, music, gymnastics and handicraft, with their original regular class. The new law replaced a previous act, which allowed pupils to voluntarily attend German language classes for eleven hours per week. Cabinet argued that the previous law was not effective enough and did not achieve the desired results. The new initiative faced great opposition by schools, their representatives and the opposition parties. Opponents argued that yet alone the Viennese schools would require 500 additional rooms. Furthermore, extraordinary students may face discrimination, many teachers do not have the necessary requirements, costs for the implementation are gigantic and all extraordinary students are in the same class regardless of their age, which prevents them from learning efficiently.


Child Benefits for Foreigners Reform Act

In October 2018, the Kurz cabinet passed the Child Benefits for Foreigners Reform Act. The bill affects foreign
citizens of the European Union European Union citizenship is afforded to all citizens of member states of the European Union (EU). It was formally created with the adoption of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, at the same time as the creation of the EU. EU citizenship is additio ...
(EU) that are employed in Austria, but whose children reside in their home country. The act adjusts
child benefit Child benefit or children's allowance is a social security payment which is distributed to the parents or guardians of children, teenagers and in some cases, young adults. A number of countries operate different versions of the program. In most co ...
s received by these foreign workers to the local price level of their home country. Civil workers – such as nurses – are especially pertained by the changes. The
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
decried the bill and reminded that
EU laws European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...
expressly disallowed favoring domestic workers over European foreign. The commission announced its intention to file a civil suit against Austria in the
European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...
.


Global Compact for Migration

On 31 October 2018, Kurz declared that Austria would not join the
Global Compact for Migration The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) is an intergovernmentally negotiated agreement, prepared under the auspices of the United Nations, that describes itself as covering "all dimensions of international migration Int ...
, claiming it would encroach on the country's sovereignty and fail to demarcate illegal (
economic migration An economic migrant is someone who emigrates from one region to another, including crossing international borders, seeking an improved standard of living, because the conditions or job opportunities in the migrant's own region are insufficient. Th ...
) from legal immigration (
asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...
).


Miscellany


Working Hours Reform Act

In July 2018, the Kurz cabinet passed an amendment to the working time law (''Arbeitszeitgesetz'') in the
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, which has commonly been referred to as the "12 hour work day" (''12-Stunden-Arbeitstag''). Cabinet skipped the common assessment process (''Begutachtungsprozess'') for the amendment. The average work time in Austria was eight hours per day, the amendment extended the maximum work time of ten hours per day to twelve hours, and the fifty hours work time per week to sixty hours. Chancellor Kurz and his cabinet commented the changes with "legally allowing employees to work more a day on a voluntary basis. In theory, employees could legally decline an employer's request to work longer. Prior to the amendment it has only been possible to work longer than ten hours per day in certain circumstances and with the explicit assent of the
works council A works council is a shop-floor organization representing workers that functions as a local/firm-level complement to trade unions but is independent of these at least in some countries. Works councils exist with different names in a variety of re ...
. Supporters of these changes have been the Economic Chamber and the Federation of Industries. Opponents on the other side, have been the
SPÖ The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
, the
Peter Pilz List JETZT – Pilz List ( ger, JETZT – Liste Pilz, "jetzt" meaning "now"), founded in 2017 as the Peter Pilz List (''Liste Peter Pilz''), was a green and left-wing populist political party in Austria. It was founded by Peter Pilz, a former member of ...
, the
Chamber for Workers and Employees The Chamber of Labour (German: ''Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte'', shortform ''Arbeiterkammer'' or ''AK''), is an organisation that represents the interests of 3 million Austrian employees and consumers. Membership is compulsory for all em ...
, and the
Trade Union Federation A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national trade union center, and many have more than one. In some regions, such a ...
. Opponents have raised strong concerns regarding the amendment, doubting that an appliance of the "voluntary basis" is actually possible in practice, since they expect the employer to dismiss a denial of the employee to work longer and threaten them with suspension and discharge.


Monitoring compact

In April 2018, the coalition enacted the monitoring compact, officially titled security compact. The ÖVP already attempted to pass such a law in the previous legislative period, but failed since their bill presented before the Parliament was rejected by all other parties, including their current and former coalition partner. The compact allows for authorities to monitor messenger services, such as
WhatsApp WhatsApp (also called WhatsApp Messenger) is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). It allows us ...
and
Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...
, of a person that has committed a crime punishable with a maximum of ten years imprisonment, or five years when life and sexual integrity are endangered, or is suspected of being a potential terrorist. With the new compact, authorities would be empowered to order
telecommunication companies A telephone company, also known as a telco, telephone service provider, or telecommunications operator, is a kind of communications service provider (CSP), more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunicat ...
to save a person's data up to one year if they are suspected of committing a specific crime. Should the initial suspicion not be substantiated throughout the investigation, then authorities' directive to store data would turn void and the surveillance target must be informed of their investigation. Furthermore, the optical and acoustic surveillance in the public are also planned to be expanded, and authorities would be able to access the video and audio surveillance of government-operated or funded organisations, such as public transportation services, airports, and railway stations, which are obliged to store recordings for a tenure of four weeks. The license plate recognition systems (''Kennzeichenerkennungssysteme'') are also intended to be advanced, with them being able to detect the driver, license plate, type and color of any car. IMSI-catchers used by the police would be able to localise phones without contacting the respective telecommunication company. Anonymous prepaid cards would no longer be available and only sim cards would remain, which require one to register their identity. The compact would stand for five years and be evaluated after three years. Jurists, attorneys, the Constitutional Service and many others, have expressed their strong concerns regarding the compact and have accused it of infringing the very basis of liberty. Both the
SPÖ The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
and NEOS have announced to file one-third petitions in parliament to trigger a lawsuit against the compact before the
Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
; the SPÖ aims to introduce its petition in the Federal Council, where it already possesses one-thirds of the seats, while NEOS would introduce theirs in the
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, hoping for the support of the SPÖ to derive the remaining votes necessary.


Digital Office

On 19 March 2019, the Kurz cabinet presented the
mobile application A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on de ...
Digital Office for Android and
IOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
as well as the website oesterreich.gv.at; both platforms combine and centralize existing online services of government that allow for citizens to interact with authorities through the internet. While both are generally the same, the mobile app was labeled "more comfortable" by cabinet. The concept for both platforms was drafted by Margarete Schramböck, Minister of Digital Affairs, and subsequently developed by her ministry. Digitalizing government services and bureaucracy has been an election promise of Kurz. The services data.gv.at and help.gv.at were merged into the new platforms, although data.gv.at is intended to additional remain as an independent website. The new platforms currently allow users to: * register a new, and cancel the current, main residence (''Hauptwohnsitz''); * request certificates for newborn children; * store passport pictures; * receive an automatic notification when a passport's validity expires; and * request a voting card (''Wahlkarte'') for an upcoming election. Additional services are intended to be added that would allow users to: * request a new passport (June); * register and cancel side residences (''Nebenwohnsitze'') (June); * file a loss report for certificates and other legal documents (June); and * use the digital driving license (December, at the latest beginning 2020). The digital driving license would for the moment only be usable domestically, since there are no European-wide regulations for such licenses. Registering for those platforms requires a mobile signature. There currently are more than 1,1 million registered mobile signatures.


Council of the European Union presidency

During Austria's
presidency of the Council of the European Union The presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, which is the co-legislator of the EU legislature alongside the European Parliament. It rotates among the member state ...
, which lasted from July to December 2018, Kurz advocated for an increased protection of the
Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...
and suggested that
Frontex The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, also known as Frontex (from French: ''Frontières extérieures'' for "external borders"), is an agency of the European Union headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, exercising in coordination with the borde ...
border guards should prevent any migrant boat from entering Europe.


The smoking ban

In March 2018, the Kurz cabinet repealed a general smoking ban enacted by its predecessor, the Kern cabinet, which was slated to take effect on 1 May 2018. The reversal was a long-standing campaign promise and policy objective of the
FPÖ The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...
, which insisted that it be included in the
coalition agreement A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
and the official cabinet agenda. Despite publicly supporting the smoking ban, the ÖVP reluctantly voted for its repeal in Parliament as part of this bargain. The reversal remains one of the most controversial acts of Kurz's first chancellorship, as his own and all opposition parties, a dozen gastronomy and health specialists, as well as the majority of Austrians opposed it. The smoking ban would have completely prohibited the use of cigarettes in all
coffee shops A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...
and
restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
s, which had previously still been allowed within designated smoking areas. However, as part of the reversal bill, the Cabinet also illegalized the sale of tobacco to minors and disallowed smoking in cars if children are present. Following the end of the smoking ban, an anti-smoking campaign known as "Don't smoke" became viral. The campaign's anti-smoking plebiscite – that would have forced Parliament to reconsider the reversal – garnered more than 880,000 votes, which made up 13.8% of Austria's population at the time, and was one of the most successful petitions in the country's history. Nevertheless, it fell just short of the 900,000 votes threshold, which had been raised by FPÖ party chairman and Vice Chancellor
Heinz-Christian Strache Heinz-Christian Strache (; born 12 June 1969) is an Austrian politician and dental technician who served as Vice-Chancellor of Austria from 2017 to 2019 before resigning owing to his involvement in the Ibiza affair. He was also Minister of Civi ...
beforehand. Strache received massive amounts of criticisms for that, as he had pledged to hear any petition that reaches a scanty 150,000 votes while still in opposition. A lawsuit against the repeal was filed with the
Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
. Following the collapse of the first Kurz cabinet, Parliament reinstated the smoking ban in July 2019; all parties, but the FPÖ, voted in favor.


Political positions


Islam policy

Under Kurz, the Foreign Ministry asked university professor and Islam specialist Ednan Aslan to create a study on Islamic
kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
s. A preliminary report, published at the end of 2015, came to the conclusion that
Salafist The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generati ...
sentiments among society were on the rise, and that there was a surging support for Islamist ideologies. As a result, the government of Vienna and the Foreign Ministry jointly agreed to conduct a more comprehensive, scientific study on the matter. In addition, the Viennese government began to vet Islamic kindergartens more carefully and subjected them to increased scrutiny. In June 2017, Kurz demanded that all Islamic kindergartens be completely shut down, as they had "isolated pupils – linguistically and culturally – from society". After a ''
Falter ''Falter'' ( en, italic=yes, Butterfly) is a weekly Austrian news magazine published in Vienna. History and profile Established in 1977, ''Falter'' is published weekly on Wednesdays. The magazine was founded by Walter Martin Kienreich. The pu ...
'' investigation accused the Foreign Ministry of having changed specific contents of the study's report, stark public controversy emerged; Aslan backed the Ministry's version of the report. The
University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
launched a
scholarly peer review Scholarly peer review or academic peer review (also known as refereeing) is the process of having a draft version of a researcher's methods and findings reviewed (usually anonymously) by experts (or "peers") in the same field. Peer review is w ...
. Following the ban of full face veils by the Kern cabinet, which Kurz supported, his cabinet also passed a headscarf ban in
kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
s, and intended to expand the ban so that it would also cover elementary schools. In March 2019, the Cabinet announced its intent to establish a new government agency that monitors Islamic political activities in Austria. Referencing studies which show that a significant amount of Austrian Muslims hold anti-western and antisemitic views, Kurz said that it would be necessary to actively monitor Islamic mosques, clubs, and social media accounts in order to safeguard Austria's liberal, democratic and secular system. He suggested that this planned organisation should be modeled after the
Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance The Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW) was established in 1963. Its main topics deal with research concerning resistance and persecution from 1938 until 1945, exile, Nazi crimes, right-wing extremism after 1945, and victims' repara ...
(DÖW) which is responsible for the surveillance of right-wing extremism. Key officers of the DÖW generally welcomed the government's proposition.


Same-sex marriage

A ruling of the
Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
in December 2017 declared most provisions of the Registered Partnership Act to be unconstitutional and overturned them, which ultimately resulted in the legalisation of
same-sex marriage in Austria Same-sex marriage in Austria has been legal since 1 January 2019. On 4 December 2017, the Constitutional Court of Austria, Constitutional Court ruled that the non-discrimination and equality provisions of the Constitution of Austria guarantee sam ...
. Both the
ÖVP The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...
and
FPÖ The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...
opposed
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
and previously rejected several bills introduced by the
SPÖ The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
, NEOS, and the
Green party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
that would have legalized it prior to the court ruling. Kurz opposes same-sex marriage, and opined that inequality has already been eliminated with the introduction of registered partnerships. He commented: "the official recognition of homosexual couples and their right to adopt children already exists. Hence, legal discrimination is no more".


Counterproliferation

As foreign minister, Kurz was a vehement advocate of non-proliferation and supported denuclearisation efforts around the globe. He explained that "nuclear weapons are not only a threat to all of humanity, but also a dark piece of
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
legacy, that must be resolutely overcome". Kurz participated in a review of the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation ...
and, in 2014, successfully organized his own international conference on
nuclear disarmament Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the Atomic nucleus, nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear ...
in Vienna.


Economic policy

In his campaign pledges for the 2017 legislative election, Kurz spoke out against further raising the national debt and for reducing
government spending Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual o ...
and
budget deficits The government budget balance, also alternatively referred to as general government balance, public budget balance, or public fiscal balance, is the overall difference between government revenues and spending. A positive balance is called a '' ...
; he intends to realize proposed policies through abolishing the
fiscal drag Fiscal drag happens when the government's net fiscal position (spending minus taxation) fails to cover the net savings desires of the private economy, also called the private economy's spending gap (earnings minus spending and private investment). ...
(''Kalte Progression'') and by cutting the
payroll A payroll is the list of employees of some company that is entitled to receive payments as well as other work benefits and the amounts that each should receive. Along with the amounts that each employee should receive for time worked or tasks pe ...
and
income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
es. Kurz opposes any sorts of
inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, Title (property), titles, debts, entitlements, Privilege (law), privileges, rights, and Law of obligations, obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ ...
,
property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...
, and
wealth tax A wealth tax (also called a capital tax or equity tax) is a tax on an entity's holdings of assets. This includes the total value of personal assets, including cash, bank deposits, real estate, assets in insurance and pension plans, ownershi ...
es. He wishes for
cash In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins. In bookkeeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-imm ...
to be retained as an ordinary payment method. In December 2018, Kurz announced a nationwide digital tax to partly fund a major upcoming tax reform. The digital tax topic has previously been discussed on European level but no agreement came about.


Message control

As chancellor, Kurz instated a strict regulation to manage and oversee the communication of government and the ministries. The concept is intended to exhibit a uniform and almost synchronous appearance of government, of which no cabinet member could stand out through their individual views and stances. Journalists have accused the Kurz cabinet, through rejecting questions and by applying other methods of message control, of efforts to control and otherwise influence the media coverage. Kurz himself reduced his communication to short and often repeated sentences and keywords.


Public profile

Following Kurz's inaugural visit to
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
as foreign minister, the ''
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...
'' described him as "highly eloquent", "succinct", and "everything but sheepish", and nicknamed him the "young
Metternich Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein ; german: Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein (15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich or Prince Metternic ...
". In December 2014, the
German Press Agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (dpa) is a German news agency founded in 1949. Based in Hamburg, it has grown to be a major worldwide operation serving print media, radio, television, online, mobile phones, and national news agencies. News is avai ...
ranked Kurz as one of "the seven winners on the political world stage of 2014". Anna von Bayern of ''
Focus Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...
'' wrote that "one really notices the new and confident approach of the
Foreign Ministry In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
", adding that "Kurz bestowed upon it new relevance". In March 2016, Franz Schandl of ''
Der Freitag ''Der Freitag'' (English: ''The Friday'', stylized in its logo as ''der Freitag'') is a German weekly newspaper established in 1990. It is published in Rhenish format. The place of publication is Berlin. Its publisher and editor-in-chief is Jakob ...
'' described Kurz as someone who "puts on a friendly face" but is actually indistinguishable from a
right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establi ...
. In 2017, the ''Time'' magazine listed Kurz as one of ten " Next Generation Leaders", referring to him as the "statesman of a new kind", who found a way to deal with the
European refugee crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to request ...
and whose pragmatic approach has been a "story of success adopted even by other European politicians". ''
Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...
'' described Kurz as a " conservative-liberal, European-minded politician", whose rise to power "in many ways resembled" that of French President
Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
. The ''
Neue Zürcher Zeitung The ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' (''NZZ''; "New Journal of Zürich") is a Swiss, German-language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zürich. The paper was founded in 1780. It was described as having a reputation as a high-quality ne ...
'' praised Kurz as the embodiment of "progress, self-confidence, dynamism, elegance, and determination"; while German Chancellor
Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...
was a "token of stagnation", Kurz was "sovereign, considerate towards his critics, and a rhetorical master of the German language" adding that "if Kurz were German, he would be chancellor, or about to be chancellor". The ''
Rheinische Post ''Rheinische Post'' is a major German regional daily newspaper published since 1946 by the ''Rheinische Post Verlagsgesellschaft GmbH'' company, and headquartered in Düsseldorf. The Post is especially dominant in the western part of North Rhine- ...
'' wrote "if we take a look at his supporters, Kurz strongly resembles
Jörg Haider Jörg Haider (; 26 January 1950 – 11 October 2008) was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of ...
, the legendary right-wing populist, who set out to end the everlasting SPÖ-ÖVP rule over the country – and ultimately failed. What Kurz seeks to change, remains opaque even after his electoral campaigning. The only thing that's clear is that he wants to become Austria's youngest chancellor". In June 2018, a commentary of Edward Lucas published by the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'' compared the modern political development of Europe and the United States with the political environment of the 1930s. Lucas explained that Kurz was "easily comparable" with U.S. President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
of the Republican Party and Italian Minister
Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of Federal ...
of the
Lega Nord Lega Nord (; acronym: LN), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing, federalist, populist and conservative political party in Italy. In the run-up of the 2018 general election, the party was rebranded as (), without changing its official n ...
. Following publication, the Austrian Embassy in Washington, D.C. contacted Lucas and demanded that certain "inappropriate" parts of the commentary be redacted; Lucas complied. In December 2018, the term "silent chancellor" became Austria's Word of the Year for the second year running. The jury chose the word because "Kurz avoids commenting on issues that personally displease him and refuses to rebuke or justify contentious actions or statements made by the FPÖ, where the public would conventionally expect clarification from the chancellor". In 2019 Kurz was first listed by ''
Spiegel Online ''Der Spiegel (online)'' is a German news website. Before the renaming in January 2020, the website's name was ''Spiegel Online'' (short ''SPON''). It was founded in 1994 as the online offshoot of the German news magazine, ''Der Spiegel'', wit ...
'' in the ranking "who will be important abroad?", explaining that "from an international perspective", Kurz had attracted considerable amounts of attention as he was "only 32 years old and governs with right-wing populists". As Kurz's coalition partner, the FPÖ "has pushed the moral boundaries. In the future, unfavorable views on foreigners, refugees, and migrants are likely to increase even more, because Kurz lets his coalition partner say bad things, but remains silent himself. Meanwhile, his job approval remains consistently high". In March 2019, Kurz was elected "word-keeper" of 2018 by the readers of the ''Deutsche Sprachwelt'', and "silent chancellor" became the Austrian Word of the Year. Kurz's response to the COVID-19 pandemic was soundly unpopular and resulted in a stark decline of his job approval rating; this combined with the corruption inquiry that concluded his political career caused his approval rating to plummet even further. At the end of 2021, the media consortium
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is a global network of investigative journalists with staff on six continents. It was founded in 2006 and specializes in organized crime and corruption. It publishes its stories through ...
named Kurz "Corrupt Person of the Year Finalist" in its annual contest.


Post-politics

Since 2022, Kurz has been working as a global strategist for
Thiel Capital Peter Andreas Thiel (; born 11 October 1967) is a German-American billionaire entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and political activist. A co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, he was the first outside investor in Fac ...
, the California-based private investment company of American billionaire
Peter Thiel Peter Andreas Thiel (; born 11 October 1967) is a German-American billionaire entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and political activist. A co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, he was the first outside investor in Fac ...
. On 9 January, he was appointed co-chairman of the
European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation The European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation (also ''ECTR'') is a non-governmental organization that was established in Paris, France on 7 October 2008 to monitor tolerance in Europe. The Chairman of the council is former British Prime M ...
.


Honours


Notes


References


External links


Official website
(in German)
Profile of Sebastian Kurz
on the website of
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
(in German)
Sebastian Kurz
at ''
Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurz, Sebastian 1986 births 21st-century Austrian politicians 21st-century Chancellors of Austria Anti-Masonry Austrian anti-communists Austrian People's Party politicians Austrian people of German descent Austrian people of Hungarian descent Critics of Islamism Foreign ministers of Austria Living people Members of the National Council (Austria) Politicians from Vienna