According to a “Krone” report:

Interior Minister Denies Passport to “Syrian Terrorist”

The passport farce involving a Syrian convicted of terrorism is entering the next round. The Ministry of the Interior is challenging the court’s ruling and filing an appeal.(Bild: APA)

Following the explosive “Krone” exposé about a citizenship farce involving a convicted Syrian terrorist from Graz, politicians are now responding. The Interior Ministry is denying a passport to the refugee, who actively participated in combat operations in his home country.

The uproar was immense.As reported, a Styrian Islamist—who was serving a final, legally binding prison sentence for terrorism—appealed his case through all levels of the court system. And despite warnings from the State Security Service about the danger of radicalization, the Styrian Provincial Administrative Court gave the green light for citizenship.

Appeal Against Revocation of Protected Status
Here is a recap of the timeline leading up to the judiciary’s absurd decision: The Syrian man, now 29, arrived in Austria in 2014 and was granted protected status in September of that same year. In 2016, he was sentenced to 30 months in prison for membership in a terrorist organization; after serving half of his sentence, he was released on probation. In 2018, the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum (BFA) revoked his protected status—a decision that was overturned in 2021 (as is so often the case) by the Federal Administrative Court.

Although there were allegedly no longer any signs of radicalization—and the Syrian man himself therefore refused to voluntarily participate in a deradicalization program—he was charged in 2023 under the Prohibition Act. Once again, the justice system comes into play: the public prosecutor’s office dismissed the case.

The passport farce involving a Syrian convicted of terrorism enters the next round. The Ministry of the Interior is challenging the court’s ruling and filing an appeal.(Bild: APA)

Violation of the Right to Equal Treatment
A year later, in 2024, the family man—who had since married a Christian woman—officially applied for Austrian citizenship. In April of the previous year, the application was rejected by the relevant authority of the Styrian provincial government. The 29-year-old filed another appeal against this decision, but the Provincial Administrative Court dismissed it.

He then took the case to the highest court—and the Constitutional Court did indeed overturn the lower court’s ruling. The reasoning: a violation of the right to equal treatment of foreigners among themselves, as well as a lack of justification regarding the threat to public order and security posed by the applicant—despite warnings from the State Security Service.

Ministry Criticizes Court Ruling
The uproar was thus complete. After Styrian Governor Mario Kunasek emphasized, “It is unacceptable to grant citizenship to potential terrorists,” the Ministry of the Interior has now also responded.

The ministry views the court’s decision as a clear miscarriage of justice, one that is, moreover, poorly reasoned. The statement reads: “In the view of the Ministry of the Interior, it was not sufficiently examined whether the Syrian has a positive attitude toward Austria and actually identifies with Austrian values.”

Therefore, an appeal will be filed against this decision, thereby denying the issuance of the red-white-red passport for the time being. Since the Styrian provincial government will also file an appeal, the controversial case involving the “Syrian terrorist” is entering its next phase. So, the suspense continues...