Factbox-Austria election: An overview of political parties’ immigration policies

2 hours ago

2 minutes read

2024.09.29 23:22

(Reuters) – Austria’s far-right Freedom Party won on Sunday a parliamentary election for the first time after a campaign that leant heavily into voters’ concerns over immigration levels.

The FPO will need to see if it can cobble together a coalition. Its most likely partner the conservative Austrian People’s Party (OVP), which finished runner up and also wants to impose tougher immigration rules.

Otherwise a more centrist OVP-led coalition could take shape. All parties addressed the issue.

Here’s what they want:

FREEDOM PARTY (FPO)

The FPO says in its manifesto it wants migrants who have entered Austria illegally to be removed and very strict criteria enforced on legal immigration.

This includes:

– Taking no asylum applications on the grounds that any asylum seeker who comes to Austria has crossed a safe country, with “pushbacks” used at the border

– Making asylum temporary, with refugees losing the right to be in Austria once their countries of origin are deemed safe

– Preventing asylum from becoming a pathway to eventual Austrian citizenship

– Making “thorough checks” on the citizenship of naturalised Austrians

– Rejecting the European Union’s Pact on Migration and Asylum – which aims to secure the bloc’s borders and divide up migrants among members – in order to pressure the EU to toughen up its borders

AUSTRIAN PEOPLE’S PARTY

The OVP says the EU’s borders must be secured against illegal immigration.

“Unskilled migration and imported criminality are a massive problem in our society”, its manifesto says.

It calls for:

– Deportations to asylum seekers’ homelands to stop them choosing in which country to settle

– Centres outside the EU deciding asylum applications, saying the EU’s Migration and Asylum pact will help to achieve this

– Using valuables from any asylum seekers who come to Austria to help cover the costs of their integration and upkeep

– Conditioning migrants’ entitlement to full social benefits on at least five years’ regular residence in Austria, or less for those who integrate quicker

SOCIAL DEMOCRATS (SPO)

The leftist SPO wants:

– A “fair distribution” of asylum seekers across EU member states, which it says would reduce asylum applications in Austria by 75%

– EU centres for processing asylum applications to be set up outside the bloc

– In cases where asylum has been denied but their country of origin will not take them back, asylum seekers should be sent to a “secure third country”

– More done to integrate asylum seekers from the moment they arrive, including German lessons from day one

NEW AUSTRIA (NEOS)

A self-styled centrist and pro-European party, the NEOS call for:

– Providing safe and legal routes for refugees to reach Austria

– Securing the EU’s borders, implementing the Migration and Asylum pact and introducing a common asylum procedure across EU states

– Conditioning foreign aid on the recipient states signing agreements that allow unsuccessful asylum seekers to be returned

– Making it possible for Austrians to have dual citizenship

THE GREENS

In coalition with the OVP since 2020, the leftwing Greens say the Austrian economy and social security systems need migrants, and argue the following:

– Letting asylum seekers stay if they integrate and work in sectors with labour shortages

– Unsuccessful asylum seekers and refugees who commit serious crimes should be expelled from Austria as long as this does not violate their human rights