Call for suspension

SPÖ and Greens: Rosenkranz employee unacceptable

During a raid against the right-wing extremist group "Saxon Separatists" (the picture shows an arrestee on his way to the magistrate), the connection to Lower Austria was uncovered; weapons and Nazi devotional objects were later found in the homes of the sons of the Rosenkranz employee.(Bild: dpa/picturedesk.com/Rene Priebe)

A high-ranking employee of Walter Rosenkranz (FPÖ) has been investigated for allegedly having links to a right-wing extremist group. The Greens and the SPÖ have demanded that he be suspended. It is unacceptable that the man continues to work in the office of the President of the National Council.

"All democrats must be on red alert, this is absolutely unacceptable and it cannot simply be business as usual," said Lukas Hammer, the Greens' spokesperson on right-wing extremism. 

The SPÖ expressed similar sentiments in a statement on Saturday. The employee should be suspended at least until the allegations have been clarified and Rosenkranz should intervene. "It is unacceptable that an apparently high-ranking employee of the President of the National Council, who is apparently under investigation in connection with Nazi devotional objects and ammunition, is still employed in the President's office," said MP Sabine Schatz.

Walter Rosenkranz(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

Pröll: "Avert damage"
 The General Secretary of the People's Party, Alexander Pröll, is also demanding action from Rosenkranz. He must "avert any damage to parliament and draw the necessary consequences". In his inaugural speech, Rosenkranz had promised that he would be a National Council President for all parties, a claim he had not yet lived up to.

The investigations are in connection with the far-right German group "Saxon Separatists". The Rosenkranz employee is the son of a recently deceased former FPÖ politician. His two sons are accused of being members of the "Saxon Separatists". The presumption of innocence applies.

The constitutional police had seized Nazi devotional objects and ammunition in a forester's lodge in the district of Krems-Land (Lower Austria). Walter Rosenkranz's employee had his main residence there. According to investigations, the forester's lodge was intended to serve as a retreat after an armed coup. The Rosenkranz employee had received a security list, it was said.

Several raids against right-wing extremists
A total of around 20 properties were searched, including in Germany and Vienna. In November, the German federal prosecutor's office arrested eight suspected right-wing terrorists in Poland and Germany.