ÖVP boss Kurz did not bring any surprises in his election speech at the party congress. Thematically, he reaffirmed what was known in advance. He had become “stronger and more determined” through the tough attacks and attacks as well as the investigations against himself: “We will withstand all headwinds.” Criticism came from the FPÖ, which Kurz compared to a sect leader.
In terms of content, he devoted himself to the current top issues and formulated five areas which he believes “are really important for our country”: relief, work, greening, digitization and migration.
In the matter of Corona, Kurz once again appealed to people to get vaccinated. The virus will not go away, “we have to live with the virus”. The calculation is simple: the more people vaccinated, the fewer sick people. The more people vaccinated, the less the economic slump. The more vaccinated, the fewer unemployed. The goal is that Corona no longer restricts freedom, life and the economy. The answer is no longer lockdown, but vaccination.
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“Am I really right there?”
The past months have not only been particularly challenging because of Corona. While the focus was on fighting the pandemic, “the attacks on the People’s Party have intensified”. Politicians shouldn’t be sorry, but the attacks “are getting tougher and are being combined with constant reports to the public prosecutor’s office”. When the complaint resulted in proceedings, there were days on which he “questioned everything” and asked himself “whether I am really right there, whether this is what you want in your own life and for how long you can endure something like that “.
The “unbelievable support” in the family and in the People’s Party helped him. Now he is stronger than before, so Kurz. “Even if I don’t wish these experiences to anyone, they made me even more resilient, stronger and more determined.” When he asked ex-Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel whether all these attacks, reports and daily attacks would ever stop, he replied after a short pause: “Oh yes, if the ÖVP is no longer first, it will be better.” But “we will not go that way, we will withstand all headwinds, we will continue our work,” said the Chancellor militantly.
“Roll up your sleeves and don’t just hold your hand”
In return for the promise of relief, Kurz reiterated that the ÖVP wanted to further reduce taxes on small and medium-sized incomes and increase the family bonus again. He promised job seekers support, but “we will clearly demand that everyone who can work goes to work”. Because working out always comes before distributing. The ÖVP wanted “a society in which people roll up their sleeves and not just open their hands”.
In terms of environmental protection, nothing new was heard from the ÖVP boss: You feel obliged to treat creation with respect, but it is not an either-or. “Of course we have to massively reduce CO2 emissions in traffic,” but many people in rural areas are dependent on cars. The enemy is therefore not the roads or the car, but the emissions.
On integration and migration, Kurz once again emphasized that he was against the voluntary admission of further migrants. Austria has already achieved incredible things in protecting refugees and has taken in more than 120,000 people since 2015. “But above all, we also have a responsibility for our country, which we have to live up to. Ultimately, what is decisive for a democracy is who lives here and what people believe in. That means for us: not to take in more people than we integrate can.”
The FPÖ only rated the demonstrative harshness of the ÖVP in migration policy as “cosmetic adjustments”. The “black and turquoise integration failures” had only issued bad checks, according to Secretary General Michael Schnedlitz: “Hot air and political stun grenades were the main components of today’s ÖVP party congress, at which Sebastian Kurz was paid homage to a sect leader.”
