This How Austrian Former Chancellor and Islamophobe Sebastian Kurz Writes His Own End

Years ago, specifically on October 15, 2017, Sebastian Kurz assumed leadership of the Austrian People's Party and formed a coalition government that consisted of a mix of center-right and far-right ideologies.

At that time, Kurz, who was only 31 years old, became the world's youngest head of government. Many anticipated that this ambitious young leader would breathe new life into Austrian politics and potentially become one of Europe's influential figures shaping the continent's future.

Kurz aligned himself with the far-right and pursued a harsh policy against Muslims and immigrants.

During his tenure, Austria became known for its anti-Muslim stance, gaining a reputation as one of Europe's most hostile countries toward its Muslim community.

His government conducted extensive security operations against Muslims on Austrian soil.

However, as the years passed, the mentioned individual's fortunes declined, and he left his position, facing potential imprisonment on corruption-related charges.

 

Facing Imprisonment

On August 18, 2023, the Austrian Public Prosecutor's Office for Economic Crimes and Corruption announced that former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz would be prosecuted for giving "false testimony" in the midst of a wide-scale corruption scandal in the Alpine nation.

This marks the first explicit legal charge against the now 36-year-old former Prime Minister. According to Deutsche Welle, Kurz could face a prison sentence of up to 3 years.

The Austrian Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office stated in a press release that Kurz is accused of providing false testimony in 2020 before a parliamentary committee investigating whether he had intervened to secure a job for a relative, Thomas Schmid, as the head of the state-owned holding company, OBAG.

Kurz repeatedly denied this allegation, even releasing a statement on X (formerly Twitter), stating, "The allegations are false and we are looking forward to the truth finally coming to light and the accusations also turning out to be unfounded in court … It is not surprising for us that the [prosecutes] decided to file a criminal complaint despite 30 exonerating witness statements."

However, in the spring of 2021, text messages exchanged between the two individuals were leaked to the press, indicating that they had indeed discussed the appointment and that Kurz was actively involved.

On August 22, 2023, a Vienna district court announced that the trial of the former chancellor on these charges would start on October 18 of the same year, along with two other defendants. The verdict is expected to be delivered on the 23rd of the same month.

 

Last Chapter for Kurz

The final chapter in Sebastian Kurz's political life began on October 9, 2021, when he submitted his resignation as Austria's Chancellor following a raid on his office by Austrian prosecutors, who had launched an investigation against him and his close associates on charges of "bribery and breach of trust."

Kurz faced immense pressure from the press, media, and public opinion to step down from his position. He was accused of using public funds to finance manipulated opinion polls that served his popularity.

The scandal that ultimately led to his downfall revolved around the alleged use of funds from the Ministry of Finance between 2016 and 2018 to finance "opinion polls manipulated in part to serve the interests of the People's Party," according to prosecutors.

This period coincided with Kurz's tenure as the head of the Ministry in the government (2010-2017) under the leadership of the People's Party and later as Austria's Chancellor.

Prosecutors pointed out that the payments were made to an unnamed media company, widely believed to be the tabloid newspaper Osterreich, in exchange for publishing these surveys.

The coalition of the People's Party and the Greens took power in January 2020, and Kurz had previously faced several pressures due to corruption scandals and disagreements over issues, including asylum policy.

Investigations were opened against Kurz, nine other individuals, and three organizations after raids that encompassed the Ministry of Finance, the Chancellery (the Prime Minister's Office), and offices of the right-wing People's Party.

The homes of three of the top aides to the Austrian chancellor were also searched.

As of now, investigations in this case are ongoing and have not concluded yet, prompting Kurz to announce his retirement from politics entirely at the beginning of 2022.

The fall of Kurz from power was a relief for Muslims in Austria, who were the main beneficiaries of his departure.

Throughout his years in office, they endured harsh campaigns of suppression and persecution.

In addition to the mistreatment of refugees and immigrants in general, the ruling party and its far-right allies pursued a "draconian policy" toward their issues and presence as a whole.

Kurz was known for his continuous attacks on Islam as a religion, stating that it was a "threat to the European way of life" and that its currents posed a danger to freedom and democracy.

He also declared that the European Union should take resolute and necessary action to combat Islamic terrorism, especially the political aspects associated with it.

Not content with rhetoric alone, on November 9, 2020, Austrian security agencies launched a fierce crackdown campaign in various parts of the country, targeting over 60 locations and organizations associated with the "Muslim Brotherhood" and Islamic organizations operating there.

They arrested 30 individuals, and this operation became known in the media as Operation Luxor.

In May 2021, the Austrian government published the names of over 620 mosques and Islamic associations, subjecting their activities to strict surveillance, according to the Ministry of Integration, which framed this in the context of "combating extremist political Islam."

However, the most alarming move by the accused chancellor was the establishment of the Political Islam Observatory on July 16, 2020. This initiative was the clearest indication of targeting this specific group within Austrian society.

The observatory served as the vanguard adopted by the right-wing People's Party to combat the widespread Islamic community in the country.

It operated as a scientific unit dedicated to studying the concept of political Islam and what they termed its "dangerous dimensions" for European and non-Islamic societies.

As a result, nearly one million Muslims (out of a population of around 9 million) on Austrian soil found themselves facing the threat of discrimination and racism from far-right parties, particularly the ruling People's Party under Kurz's leadership.

This party made combating what it referred to as political Islam and the religious identity of Muslims a top priority.

 

The Benefits Realized

The Muslim community in Austria reaped the benefits of Kurz's downfall in a way that blocked his return to political life. This was not only due to his position as Chancellor of Austria but also because he was one of the leading opponents of Islam in the country even before coming to power.

Kurz's hostility toward Muslims began when he served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Integration.

The negative shift toward Muslims in Austria was initiated during his tenure, notably with the introduction of the Islam Law in 2015.

This discriminatory law was introduced by Kurz at a time when a large wave of refugees and displaced individuals from Syria and Iraq sought refuge in Austria due to ongoing conflicts.

This situation was exploited by the far-right to incite against foreigners, especially Muslims, using anti-Islamic propaganda that fueled Islamophobia.

During that period, elections were being held, and Muslims hoped that these anti-Muslim campaigns would end afterward.

However, it was just the opposite, especially when a coalition government was formed in 2017.

This coalition consisted of the black party, the Austrian People's Party (center-right), represented by Kurz himself, and the blue party, the Freedom Party of Austria (far-right), which was relatively extreme right-wing and had connections to neo-Nazis.

Their sole aim was to gain the votes of extremists and those opposed to foreigners and Muslims, causing significant harm to the Muslim community as a whole, particularly active institutions such as the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Religious Authority of Austria, and the Turkish Islamic cultural association Milli Gorus.

The end of Kurz's political career marked a genuine turning point for Muslims. For example, on June 30, 2022, the Supreme Administrative Court in the Austrian city of Graz issued a landmark ruling regarding the Islamic institution Liga Kultur in the country.

The ruling included a series of measures that eased the security grip on the institution, which represents a wide segment of Muslims.

This decision came after years of persecution and oppression under the government of the ruling Austrian People's Party, led by Sebastian Kurz.