Sebastian Kurz

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Sebastian Kurz (German: [zebastia()n krts]; born 27 August 1986) is a former Austrian politician who served from December 2017 to October 2021, then again from January 2020 to October 2021.

Kurz was born and raised in Meidling, Vienna, Austria. He entered politics in 2003 when joining the Young People's Party (JVP) and climbed through the ranks in the following years. Kurz was granted his first government role as a result of a cabinet reshuffle in 2011. Kurz became the country's foreign minister and remained the country's top diplomat until December 2017.

Kurz succeeded VP chairman Reinhold Mitterlehner in May 2017 and ran as a chancellor candidate of his party in the 2017 legislative election. He ran on modernizing the Austrian political and bureaucratic apparatus as well as dealing with the country's social and migration problems following the European refugee crisis. The landslide champion's chief reasons for his landslide victory were his perceived reformist ideology, rhetorical abilities, and youth. Kurz was charged with the creation of his first cabinet shortly after. He opted for a far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FP). Kurz was credited with mainly following through on his campaign promises during his first chancellorship, but his leadership style was largely criticized as uncooperative and hasty. Several political scandals, culminating with the Ibiza affair in 2019, have brought the VP-FP coalition to a halt. Kurz and his Cabinet were dismissed as a result of his failure to receive Parliament's blessing.

Following the 2019 snap election, he returned to office and formed an alliance with the environmentalist Green Party this time. In January 2020, Kurz and his second cabinet were installed. However, the burgeoning COVID-19 pandemic put them in jeopardy. Lockdowns and curfews were among the pandemic's responses. Kurz resigned as a chancellor in October 2021 after an inquiry into the Ibiza affair by a parliamentary subcommittee, an unstable Cabinet beset by resignations, and ultimately a corruption investigation. However, the former party chair and parliamentary leader encouraged him to maintain power over government affairs, triggering his deposition as "shadow chancellor." Kurz resigned from politics altogether and began working as a global strategist for Peter Thiel two months later.

Kurz was Austria's youngest chancellor as well as the world's youngest head of government for about four years. His youth and political tenor were credited with the revival of Austria's traditional conservative movement, as well as Europe's. He was certainly the country's most influential politician of the 21st century, until his job approval plummeted at the end of his political career.

Personal life

Kurz was born in Vienna and was the only child of Elisabeth (née Döller) and Josef Kurz. His father is an engineer, and his mother is a grammar school coach. Magdalena Müller, Kurz's maternal grandmother, who was born 1928 in Temerin, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, is a Danube Swabian who escaped from the city and settled in Zogelsdorf, Serbia, during World War II. The Yugoslav Partisans and the Red Army began to liberate the territory that was then occupied by the Kingdom of Hungary. Kurz was born in Meidling, Vienna's 12th district, where he now lives. He obtained his Matura degree in 2004, completed compulsory military service in 2005, and began studying law at the University of Vienna the same year. Later, he dropped out of college and concentrated on his political work. Kurz is in a friendship with economics professor Susanne Thier; together, they have a son named Konstantin.

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Early career

Kurz had been a member of the Young People's Party (JVP) since 2003 and was'sponsored' by Markus Figl. He served as chairman of Young People's Party of Vienna from 2008 to 2012. As chairman, he led the Austrian People's Party's (VP)'s youth department into the 2010 Viennese state election, coining the electoral slogan "black makes [you] cool" (Schwarz macht geil), a play on the official party colour as well as the colloquial term "geil," which literally translates to "horny." For official campaign rides in Vienna, Kurz used a black-painted SUV named the "Geilomobil" (cool/horny vehicle). Kurz was elected chairman of the Austrian JVP at a federal party convention in 2009, where he received 99 percent of the vote; five years later, he was reelected with 100 percent. Attorney Stefan Schnöll replaced Kurz as chairman in 2017. Kurz served as a deputy co-chair of the Viennese People's Party from 2009 to 2016. He served as a member of Viennese State and Municipality Diet, where he concentrated on "generational justice and fair pensions" before being nominated as state secretary of the Interior Ministry for integration in June 2011, sparking a reshuffle of the first Faymann cabinet. Following the 2013 Austrian national election, in which he received the most direct votes of any candidate, he briefly served as a member of Parliament. Kurz resigned from parliament in December 2013 to become the country's youngest foreign minister at the age of 27.

Kurz believed that a strong and open relationship between the government and religious groups was vital for social integration. Kurz proposed several policy changes during his first months as state secretary for integration, including a second compulsory preschool year for students with weak language skills. The Foreign Ministry, the Austrian Integration Fund, and the Education Ministry launched gemeinsam venture Zusammen: Austria (Together:Austria), which aimed at educating immigrants with Austrian culture and traditions, and then went on to present Western tenets, such as religious freedom and democracy in 2011. Zusammen: Through dialog, Austria sent so-called "integration ambassadors" to public schools, who were responsible for furthering immigrant children's "identification with Austria."

Kurz's term as state secretary brought in a €15 million annual budget as of 2011. By 2017, the budget had been raised to €100 million. The rise was largely a result of the government's rapid expansion of German language classes.

Kurz recalled Michael Spindelegger as the head of the Foreign Ministry following the 2013 legislative election. In March 2014, the Foreign Ministry was also responsible for integration-related problems. One of his top policy priorities, Kurz, was that the strengthening of Austria's relations with the Western Balkans. A commitment to Israel and the Jewish faith was also 'imperative' to Kurz, "for historical reasons."

On a visit to Belgrade in February 2014, he reaffirmed – in part due to national economic and political interests – that Austria maintains support for Serbia's accession to the European Union. (EU)

Kurz's "#stolzdrauf" campaign, which aimed to encourage people to display patriotism on social media in November 2014. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, celebrities, such as former Miss Austria Dagi and singer Andreas Gabalier, were among the campaign's supporters. Former President Heinz Fischer, Austrian Airlines, the Jewish Union, and the Islamic Religious Community were all involved in some way. The campaign was officially launched at a press conference that was later criticized by the alt-right identitarian party. The Foreign Ministry's investment on the campaign's promotion had been heavily criticized; revenues totaled €326,029 in just five to six weeks, 55% of which were spent on boulevards and free newspaper advertisements.

Parliament approved an amendment to the Islam law on February 25, 2015. The changes, which have banned the funding of Islamic religious organisations, were strongly condemned by the Muslim faith. Muslims were also granted the right to pastoral care in the military, jails, hospitals, and nursing homes. A German translation of the Qur'an, which had not been requested by Kurz, was not included in the article.

Kurz suggested that we re-compile child benefits received by international EU citizens, but whose children stayed in their home country, so that it would be comparable to their country's price level. In addition, European foreigners should "pay their fair share for a few years" before being eligible to enroll in Austrian social insurance services. This was dismissed by the Social Democratic Camp (SP), but it was agreed that the abuse of child welfare services needed to be phased out. The Freedom Party (FP) endorsed the plan. Kurz was accused by the Green Party of "adopting the FP's hate mentality."

Kurz unveiled a long-term strategic initiative to close embassies in Malta, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia by autumn 2018 and then open new ones in Belarus, Moldova, Qatar, and Singapore. A second Consulate General in China was also included in his Chinese plans.

Kurz wrote an article in January 2016 in a daily newspaper Die Welt, "it is understandable" that some politicians are concerned about "ugly pictures" when it comes to border control. We can't want to get our hands dirty, but we can't simply cede our responsibilities regarding our borders to Turkey. "Ugly photos" are unavoidable. Michel Reimon, the Green MEP, quoted the latter part of a post that went viral on Facebook of a photograph featuring the deceased refugee boy Aylan Kurdi. Kurz was also referred to as a "inhumane cynic." "The Green party exploits the death of this young boy to promote their ideological stances," Aylan said at a time "where border protection does not exist yet."

In July 2016, the Recognition and Evaluation Act of the Foreign Ministry was passed by Parliament. It allows for the recognition of qualifications obtained in the United States, as well as the translation of foreign academic certificates into domestic ones.

Kurz visited Belarus on May 5th, 2015, before a trip to Moscow where he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He characterized Crimea and Russia's support for Eastern Ukrainian rebels as "contrary to international law." According to Kurz, a softening of EU sanctions will be delayed unless local knowledge of the situation, and that the signing of the Minsk II deal by Russia was vital. Peace could only be achieved "with and not against Russia," he said. In June 2016, he expressed support for then-German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier's plan to gradually lift sanctions in exchange for promises kept by Russia regarding the Minsk agreement.

Kurz visited Israel in May 2016 and spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The trip was the culmination of 60 years of diplomatic relations between Austria and Israel. Both Netanyahu and Kurz have signed a working holiday visa agreement as well as several other bilateral educational and cultural issues.

Kurz expressed his appreciation as a representative of the European People's Party in a campaign rally for the closing of the Western Balkans route, which was later condemned as an indirect election endorsement.

Kurz described rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea as "NGO insanity" in March 2017, meaning that "lead to more refugees dying rather than less." Kurz has often requested that refugees saved in the Mediterranean Sea not be relocated to mainland Italy but to refugee camps outside of Europe, after being inspired by the Australian refugee model. Frontex, the EU border patrol service, supported his plan, but most NGOs opposed it.

The Council of Ministers approved the Integration Act in March 2017, which was enacted by Parliament two months later. It introduced German language classes for immigrants, as well as mandatory "language and value" courses for refugees, and banned the selling of Quran by Salafists in public spaces. It also outlawed complete face veils in public spaces.

Kurz's immigrant policy was sluggish in May 2017. According to a survey conducted by magazine Bum Media, two-thirds of the integration ambassadors disagreed with his policy priorities, particularly the ban on full face veils.

The cabinet decided to increase funds made available for bilateral relation building from €75 to almost €150 million by 2021, under Kurz's term.

The Foreign Ministry reported at the end of 2016 that it had ended the administrative endowment of Südwind Magazin, which had been published monthly since 1979, for the group Südwind Entwicklungspolitik. This was widely condemned, as it put the magazine in serious financial danger and reportedly weakened freedom of the press in Austria. The move was "politically ignorant," according to the magazine's editor.

Kurz, the former foreign minister, took over the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) yearly rotating chairmanship in January 2017.

Kurz resigned as foreign minister and chancellor on December 18, 2017. Karin Kneissl of the FP succeeded him.

Several news outlets expected that Kurz will most likely replace Reinhold Mitterlehner as chairman of the VE before the 2017 legislative election and run as the party's chancellor candidate. Kurz has already predicted that in 2014, he would run for the chancellorship. Mitterlehner resigned as the party chair and vice chancellor on May 10th, 2017. Kurz was appointed as the party's next chairman on May 14 after Mitterlehner's departure from politics. Kurz, on the other hand, has declined to replace Mitterlehner as vice chancellor. Kurz introduced the Executive Board with a list of demands, most notable the ability to unilaterally craft the party's federal nominees' list for legislative elections prior to his official confirmation. The Board accepted the majority of them, with others being specifically linked to the party by legislation. Kurz had already tested the waters regarding campaign financing before assuming office, according to the Falter, major corporate contributors have pledged to endow his campaign with several millions of euros.

Kurz was officially elected chairman of the VP by a Federal Party Convention on July 1, 2017, earning 97 percent of the delegates' vote and falling just short of Mitterlehner's 99.9%.

The VP ran under the name "Sebastian Kurz list" in the 2017 legislative election – the new People's Party. Elisabeth Köstinger, Josef Moser, Gaby Schwarz, Efgani Dönmez, Maria Großbauer, Rudolf Taschner, Tanja Graf, Karl Mahrer, and Kira Grünberg were among the federal candidates on the federal list, along with Kurz. On September 4, 2017, the first portion of the election campaign, titled "New Justice & Responsibility" (Neue Gerechtigkeit & Verantwortung), was unveiled, with tax cuts against assets and inheritance taxes and a decrease of the minimum income obtained by people without Austrian citizenship. Kurz had announced in June 2017 that he would seek tax relief ranging from 12 to 14 billion euros annually, counterbalanced by spending in the bureaucracy and "misguided social services," which would in particular affect child and family subsidies as well as the minimum income received by foreigners.

The second component of the programme, which was launched nine days later, was divided into three areas: economics, education, study, culture, and the environment. It also aimed to replace compulsory school attendance with "compulsory education." Children will "be able to extensively read and understand the basics of math," if compulsory school attendance is postponed until the age of 18. In addition, a mandatory second kindergarten year for children with no prior knowledge of the German language will be included. For people with lower incomes, the social security system will be reduced.

"Order and Protection" was Kurz's third component of the election campaign on September 27, 2017. Any illegally arriving in their country of origin will be returned to their country of origin. If someone requires cover, they will be kept in a Security Center in a third-party nation. It also needed a new scoring system (Punktesystem) for legal immigration. With respect to government reforms, it wanted a more definite division of roles between the federal government and the state and municipal governments. It also called for structural changes in the EU, the introduction of the security compact, and tougher penalties for abuse against women and incitement.

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