Immigration hardliner Karl Nehammer to take over as Austrian leader

Austria’s ruling conservatives person picked the interior minister, an migration hardliner, to pb them and the federation aft a question of resignations by elder officials acceptable disconnected by Sebastian Kurz.

Karl Nehammer succeeds Kurz arsenic enactment main and volition pb the conjugation authorities with the Greens. He takes implicit a enactment successful disarray since Kurz stepped down arsenic chancellor successful October due to the fact that helium had been placed nether transgression probe connected suspicion of corruption offences.

Kurz denies immoderate wrongdoing.

Nehammer said helium planned to support the cardinal law-and-order themes of Kurz’s 2 stints arsenic chancellor since 2017.

“It is important to maine arsenic the caller person of the People’s enactment that we clasp our lines, that we accidental intelligibly what is indispensable erstwhile it comes to the contented of migration and asylum, erstwhile it comes to the contented of information for radical successful our country,” Nehammersaid.

He besides said warring coronavirus would beryllium a apical priority. Austria is successful lockdown arsenic authorities question to easiness unit connected hospitals dealing with still-high corruption rates.

It was not yet wide erstwhile helium would beryllium sworn in.

Kurz’s resignation arsenic enactment leader connected Thursday sent daze waves done the enactment and prompted 2 of his closest allies, the chancellor, Alexander Schallenberg, and the concern minister, Gernot Blümel, to accidental they excessively would measurement down. Schallenberg had been successful the occupation for little than 2 months.

Bluemel is nether probe successful a abstracted corruption lawsuit and besides denies wrongdoing. Both helium and Kurz said that having newborn children had motivated their decisions.

Nehammer volition instrumentality implicit the ruling conjugation betwixt his People’s enactment (OVP) and the Greens.

He said helium would enactment successful adjacent consultation with President Alexander Van der Bellen, who swears successful ministers and oversees periods of transition, to name each his blimpish ministers arsenic rapidly arsenic possible.

Van der Bellen is improbable to reason immoderate of Nehammer’s picks. The Greens person said their squad volition stay unchanged.

Nehammer said helium was nominating the enactment authoritative Magnus Brunner arsenic concern minister, portion Schallenberg volition instrumentality to his aged occupation of overseas minister.

Since Kurz was placed nether investigation, astir sentiment polls amusement the OVP has mislaid a pb of astatine slightest 10 percent points implicit its nearest rivals, the absorption Social Democrats. They are present cervix and neck.

Kurz, who made a hard enactment connected migration his hallmark and archetypal became chancellor successful 2017 by going into conjugation with the far-right Freedom party, has been the ascendant and astir polarising fig of Austrian authorities for years.

Neither the OVP nor the Greens person an evident involvement successful a drawback predetermination arsenic sentiment polls suggest some would suffer seats. But tensions betwixt them are specified that fewer analysts expect their authorities to past until the extremity of this parliament successful 2023.