Schallenberg skeptical

“Nobody in the ÖVP wants the FPÖ in the Foreign Ministry”

Austria's Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg(Bild: APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER)

Alexander Schallenberg was skeptical when asked whether the FPÖ could be given the Foreign Ministry after the National Council elections. "A blue takeover of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is an intellectual steeplechase that nobody in the ÖVP wants - and I least of all," said the incumbent Foreign Minister.

The Minister was "very confident that we will provide the Federal Chancellor". Should he be asked, he would also like to remain Foreign Minister. Postscript: "And if the circumstances are right." In an interview with the APA on Thursday, Schallenberg argued that polls currently showing the FPÖ in the lead are different from the final result after the election on September 29.

The ÖVP will become "number one" again and Chancellor Karl Nehammer will remain in office, the Foreign Minister said, confident of victory. "We will work for that and everything else is speculative. Spreading the bear's fur now is the wrong time," said Schallenberg, not wanting to engage in any further speculation. He himself fulfills his office "with great pleasure". He would therefore be "very happy" to consider a further term of office if asked.

Now is not the time to dish out the bear's fur.

Außenminister Alexander Schallenberg zur bevorstehenden Nationalratswahl im September

Sharp criticism of predecessor Kneissl
With regard to his predecessor, Karin Kneissl, who spoke on behalf of Russia at the UN Security Council a few days ago, Schallenberg noted: "It is also humanly regrettable how much she has lost her way here and allowed herself to be harnessed to Russian propaganda and the Russian narrative. But I believe that since she is speaking purely as a private individual and not on behalf of the Republic, the Federal Government or the Foreign Ministry, we can spare ourselves any further commentary.

Kneissl was Foreign Minister during the ÖVP-FPÖ government led by Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, officially independent but on a Freedom Party ticket.

"Unspeakable style" from Harald Vilimsky
Commenting on statements made by FPÖ MEP Harald Vilimsky, who spoke of a "political witch trio" who should "feel the whip" with regard to the newly elected President of Parliament Roberta Metsola, ECB President Christine Lagarde and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Schallenberg said: "Perhaps not every statement made by an MEP should be taken seriously, but all politicians, including those from the FPÖ, should think about what they say from time to time." Such expressions are an "unspeakable style". It is derogatory and attempts to "willfully divide and destroy the basic consensus in our society". But: "At some point, the people who use this kind of language will also fall on their heads. They have to realize that."

Schallenberg does not believe that Austria is making a bad impression in Brussels due to the lengthy negotiations to select an Austrian EU Commissioner.

On the other hand, he criticized Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens), who had agreed to the EU renaturation regulation against the will of her coalition partner ÖVP. This approach was a "really dangerous" precedent. "I was responsible for EU coordination in Vienna for many years, both in the Foreign Ministry and in the Federal Chancellery. This case has never happened before. Even FPÖ ministers have never dared to do something like this." When Herbert Kickl, then Interior Minister and now FPÖ party chairman, said in 2019 that the law must follow politics, "there was rightly an uproar", said Schallenberg. "But that is just as inadmissible on the part of the Greens."