Austria's National Council President visits Saxony-Anhalt

International relations - Austria's National Council President visits Saxony-Anhalt

State President Gunnar Schellenberg receives international visit: On July 10th, Austria's National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka comes to Magdeburg for a talk with the parliament chief. The two intend to discuss the handling of antisemitism, right-wing extremism, and migration, according to the Landtag administration.

Protection of Democracy and Elections

Challenges for parliamentarism and democracy, as well as upcoming elections, are also issues that Schellenberg, the Christian Democrat, and conservative Sobotka (ÖVP) want to address. In Austria, a new National Council, the legislative chamber of the parliament, is to be elected at the end of September.

Schellenberg emphasized that it was important to him to deepen relations with Austria. "The latest European elections have impressively shown how similar the current challenges facing parliaments in Central Europe are," Schellenberg stated. In Austria, the EU-critical right-wing party FPO received the most votes with 25.4 percent in the European elections. In Saxony-Anhalt, the right-populists of the AfD even managed to get 30.5 percent of the votes.

"Democracy is confronted daily with new challenges that must be addressed," Sobotka said during the visit announcement. It is primarily up to the parliaments to restore the trust of the population in politics and democratic institutions.

1. Wolfgang Sobotka, during his visit to Magdeburg's Parliament, expressed concern about the rising instances of right-wing extremism in both Saxony-Anhalt and Austria.
2. As part of their discussions, Schellenberg and Sobotka, representing their respective parliaments, focused on the shared challenges faced by democracies, particularly in the context of upcoming European elections.
3. In the upcoming European elections, Austria's ÖVP, led by Sobotka, will be competing against the EU-critical right-wing party FPO, which secured the most votes in Austria's previous elections.
4. Similarly, Saxony-Anhalt's Parliament has grappled with the challenges posed by the right-populist AfD, which garnered 30.5% of the votes in the last elections.
5. In light of these challenges, Sobotka emphasized the crucial role of parliaments in restoring public trust in democracy and democratic institutions, a task that is increasingly important in times of international change and tension.

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