Austrian far-right politician reported for overt racism in regional parliament

1 year ago 39

Burgenland’s far-right leader Johann Tschürtz may be charged with sedition after he read out a list of names of a primary school class in a Vienna suburb to suggest migrants were overrunning the country.

Burgenland is a small Austrian state bordering Hungary with the highest number of border crossings into Austria. Unlike at the national level, Tschürtz’s far-right, anti-refugee FPÖ party, which used to govern there alongside the centre-left, has failed to make any headway and continues to hover around 10% in the polls.

Speaking of the situation in the Burgenland parliament, the former governor decided to list the names of 21 primary school students that indicate a migrant background and then went on a tirade about “criminal” asylum seekers.

His speech received criticism from all sides, including his own party.

Among the harshest critics was Greens party leader Regina Petrik, who confirmed she would report Tschürtz to the police on Monday.

“This is not only a disgusting attempt to use children for party-political propaganda. I have a well-founded suspicion of sedition,” she said in a press release Sunday.

However, while the centre-left SPÖ, which governs the regional state of Burgenland, called his “questionable”, the centre-right ÖVP said they were “tasteless”.

Even Tschürtz’s party was not amused by his stunt.

“Mentioning the names of primary school children is, of course, unnecessary,” FPÖ secretary general Michael Schnedlitz told daily Der Standard.

After a dressing down, the regional politician will refrain from naming primary school children as part of a political debate in the future, he added. It will be “a one-time slip”.

(Nikolaus J. Kurmayer | Euractiv.de)