FPÖ and ÖVP agree

Styria: Payment card for refugees is fixed

Kunasek and Drexler at the airport.(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

The FPÖ and ÖVP are implementing one of their most important election promises: A payment card for migrants will be introduced in Styria; cash benefits will be taboo in future. The new state government also wants to tighten up on integration and juvenile delinquency.

The blue-black coalition is taking shape - and Styria is facing a political transformation not seen for years! While the agenda of the last Drexler/Lang state government was more about managing than shaping, the next five years will see a major shake-up. In the areas of health, culture and migration, no stone will be left unturned, as the "Steirerkrone" has heard from well-informed negotiating circles. Styria first, Styria first is the motto!

No more financial incentives for refugees
The signature ink is already dry on the hairy issue of asylum. The FPÖ and ÖVP are cutting cash benefits for refugees and introducing payment cards (for benefits in kind) in future. A fulfillment of corresponding election promises by both parties: "This will help to make Styria less attractive as an asylum destination," affirms future governor Mario Kunasek.

A new integration mission statement is also fixed: clear rules of conduct will be defined and sanctions will be imposed on those unwilling to integrate. "Because the basic prerequisite for integration is the internalization of our values and our way of life," asserts ÖVP leader Christopher Drexler.

In addition, the Blue and Black parties want to further develop the catalog of measures against juvenile delinquency in their own sphere of influence and lobby the federal legislature to reduce the age of criminal responsibility to twelve years. 

In the next few days, finances, civic participation, culture and customs will be on the agenda, and the coalition should be in place by Friday.