Karl Nehammer; Austria’s New Chancellor, Who Has a Security Mentality Hostile to Muslims and Refugees

During the rule of former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who left office due to scandals and political turmoil, in October 2021, the noose was tightening on the broad Muslim community in the country little by little.

As soon as Kurz was forced to abdicate, the Muslims breathed a sigh of relief, hoping for a political breakthrough after years of hardship.

But the ill wind blows no good, as General Karl Nehammer ascended to rule Austria, succeeding Kurz, and causing concern among Muslims.

This new chancellor, with a security background, has a bad history against Muslims, migrants, and refugees in general, in addition, he is one of Kurz's men, and they are both from the same background, the Austrian People's Party.

Nehammer was the Minister of the Interior in Kurz's government, and his arm that was striking hard against the Muslim community.

Within a short period of time he committed many violent acts, and launched fierce security campaigns against mosques and Islamic centers, which makes his rise to the top of the authoritarian pyramid a source of concern and anticipation at the same time.

Old Guard

Nehammer is a member of the old guard within the ruling Austrian People's Party, which allowed him to rise to become the first ruler of Austria.

On December 6, 2021, Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer, 49, was appointed as the country's new chancellor to succeed Sebastian Kurz with the hope of ending the period of political crises that punctuated the outgoing former chancellor.

Nehammer, born on October 18, 1972, is an Austrian politician from the right-wing conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). He previously served as the party's general secretary from 2018 to 2020. He was also a member of the National Assembly from 2017 until 2020.

Nehammer was a member of the religious class within his government, and is a former member of the Austrian Catholic Students' Union.

In his personal life, he is married to Katharina Nehammer, also a member of the Austrian People's Party, and they have two children.

Nehammer and his wife were subjected to severe criticism in 2020, after Catarina was appointed as a spokeswoman for the Ministry of National Defense.

The government was accused by the opposition parties of placing the country's domestic and defense policy in the hands of one family.

His Political Rise

Nehammer's political rise was not easy, as he practiced this battle for many years, and held multiple political and party positions.

After leaving the army in 1996, Nehammer became active in the People's Party organization.

He initially worked with the party academy, then became head of the service and mobilization department at his headquarters, and then head of the training and networks department.

In 2009 he became director of the Austrian Federation of the Party Academy. He was considered close to the party's supreme leadership at the time, which opened the doors for him to rise quickly.

In October 2015, Nehammer was appointed Deputy Secretary-General and Federal Organizational Head of the Austrian Workers' Union.

In April 2017, he became head of the Vienna People's Party.

In the same year, he ran in the federal elections, and was elected as the representative of Vienna.

Karl Nehammer came to power on January 7, 2020, after he was sworn in, as Austrian Minister of the Interior, in the second government of Sebastian Kurz.

On January 7, 2020, Karl Nehammer was sworn in as Austrian Minister of the Interior within Sebastian Kurz's second government.

Against Islam

Karl Nehammer, when he was Minister of the Interior, was considered the second implicated, after the then Austrian Chancellor Kurz, in the fierce security “Luxor operation.”

On November 9, 2020, the Austrian security services, under the direct order of Nehammer, launched one of the fiercest and most severe operations against institutions and individuals affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood in Austria.

The number of places that were stormed throughout the country reached 60 addresses, and the number of arrests reached 30 Muslim activists and academics.

On August 5, 2021, the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe - which oversees Muslim communities and activities on the continent - criticized the use of the Austrian security service, led by Karl Nehammer, disproportionate force against known people and their treatment as terrorists.

Excessive force from the Austrian police during the raids left its mark on members of a Muslim family that was subjected to violence by the security forces.

More than 10 children started receiving psychological treatment after the operations, the 30 people who were arrested and their families faced financial difficulties because their bank accounts were banned.

Several NGOs, journalists and writers called for the issue to be urgently clarified.

It cannot be hidden that the UAE supports the extreme right in Europe and seeks to curb Islamic activities there, and is one of the most prominent supporters of Nehammer.

This was expressed by the UAE Sky News Arabia website, on December 4, 2021, when he conveyed the statements of Jassim Mohammed, head of the European Center for Studies on Countering Terrorism and Extremism (based in Germany), and backed by the UAE.

“Without a doubt, the appointment of Karl Nehammer, the former Minister of the Interior to the Austrian government, will further narrow the policies of political Islam in general and the Brotherhood in particular,” Mohammed said.

“Nehammer was behind the enactment of several laws issued by the Austrian parliament, the most recent of which was in July 2021. It includes a package of procedures and legislation that allows the Ministry of Interior to track the incubating environment for Islamic organizations,” Mohammed added.

Challenges and Worries

However, Nehammer is linked to one of the biggest security failures in the country's history, which happened on November 2, 2020.

At that time, when a terrorist attack occurred in the outskirts of the Austrian capital Vienna, which left 4 dead and dozens injured, it turned out that behind it was one of the ISIS members is Kujtim Fejzulai.

Fejzulai is Austrian, and he also holds North Macedonian citizenship, but the surprising thing was that he was observed among nearly 90 personalities in Austria who adopted the hard-line approach, and tried to travel to Syria to fight, which made them the focus of intelligence in that country and all of Europe.

Despite the Turkish intelligence's warnings to its Austrian counterpart regarding this person in particular, they ignored the warnings, only to face a fatal failure.

At the time, Nehammer announced at a press conference: “The perpetrator of the bloody attack succeeded in deceiving the rehabilitation program for extremists and those charged with following it.” To express the government's failure to track down dangerous people, who might commit a catastrophic terrorist attack, as happened in Vienna.

This failure will continue to be presented to Nehammer in his first term as the Austrian chancellor.

Especially since before 2020, Austrian political life witnessed a lot of turmoil, and the country had five chancellors from 2016 until 2021.

Another crisis facing Nehammer is that since Kurz's resignation, due to a political scandal, the ruling People's Party, which has been in power since 1987, has regressed from the top spot in opinion polls, after it was overtaken by the Social Democratic Party.