In an interview with APA, Nehammer was convinced that the budget could be stabilized “through more economic growth.” Despite polls to the contrary, Nehammer believes he will come first in the election at the end of September. The Chancellor described rumors that a coalition between the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS has already been agreed as “misinformation” and a “disinformation campaign.”
After years of billions in deficits and in view of the high budget deficit forecast for 2028, experts from the IHS, Wifo and the Fiscal Council recently called for short-term savings packages worth billions. “I have the opposite view,” replied Nehammer. It is important to talk about how to achieve more growth in Austria again, i.e. to relieve the burden on companies and industry and give them the opportunity to invest. “With more economic growth, I also have the chance to actually stabilize the budget.” The Chancellor wants to take measures such as the taxation of overtime or non-wage labor costs. “Competitiveness is a big issue, and I think it makes sense to use this competitiveness to generate more growth again.”
Nehammer stressed that the admonitions and warnings were taken seriously, but at the same time pointed out that “a stable budget” had been achieved and “the rating agencies have all confirmed that we are on this path so far.” In contrast to other countries in the European Union, no letter of warning had been received from the Commission saying that the budget was not working. Nehammer rejected the idea that he did not want to tackle savings because he was in the middle of a super election year: “No, the issue is actually that we have already achieved really impressive successes in many areas,” for example with the investment premium.
His election goal for September 29th is “of course to come first,” said Nehammer confidently. He wants to get “the best possible result from the voters,” and “I am also applying again to be given the mandate to lead a government.” The Chancellor did not want to commit to a number. In 2019, the ÖVP achieved 37.5 percent. It “doesn’t really make sense” to compare election results from previous years, “because it always depends massively on the circumstances, when and under what conditions the elections took place,” and the past few years have been “more than demanding.”
He did not address the question of what outcome would lead him to resign as party chairman, as he ultimately wanted to achieve the “greatest possible mandate from the voters”. During the election campaign, they could see who had what program. “Performance, family and security are particularly important to me,” emphasised the ÖVP leader: “Putting the hard-working people in the foreground”, family “as the nucleus of the state” and in the area of security the “fight against illegal migration” and the arming of the police and the federal army.
However, the FPÖ has been leading the polls for months. Nehammer is nevertheless optimistic and recalled the EU elections in June, “which actually provided real proof of how much polls are worth.” The election was of course won by the Freedom Party. “Yes, but the gap between the People’s Party and the Freedom Party was only 0.8 percent, and some polls predicted a gap of ten percent,” replied Nehammer. “And the dynamics of an election campaign, the opportunity to deal with the issues, are only really beginning for people now. So I think it is very likely that we can succeed in getting the people to give us the mandate and thus being the first to cross the finish line.”
When asked whether, in his view, it would be legitimate in terms of democratic politics to also claim the chancellorship as the second candidate, the ÖVP leader explained that “everything has happened in Austria,” because it always depends on how a parliamentary majority is achieved. Nehammer did not reveal which party he would most like to form a coalition with. The decisive factor is “where there are constructive forces within the political parties and where the destructive ones are,” he said. “With destructive forces you cannot form a government and, above all, a stable parliamentary majority.” Left and right are “more and more radicalizing” away from the center, the Chancellor said. “My offer is to live the politics of reason, stability, the center” and to invite those who are interested in it to work with me after the election. “There are forces that only live off the problem but do not want to solve it, and it will be difficult to find constructive cooperation with them.”
Although Nehammer does not want a government with FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, he is still not ruling out the FPÖ as a coalition partner. He knows “many sensible people” in the Blues, with whom he also maintains “good contact”. They currently have little opportunity to “live out their idea of politics” because Kickl and his entourage “appear very dominant – but that does not mean that it has to stay that way after the election”.
ÖVP-SPÖ-NEOS coalition is “fake paper”
Nehammer dismissed the alleged “secret plan” of an agreed ÖVP-SPÖ-NEOS coalition, which is being spread by the Blue Peter Westenthaler, as a “fake document”. “We can now see that what we feared is happening once the election campaign begins: the targeted misinformation of the public is now obviously also beginning.” Attempts are being made to “introduce unrest into the political discussion with such targeted misinformation” and also to fuel the party’s own election campaign narrative. “Misinformation in a democracy must be taken very seriously”, and a “joint cooperation of the reasonable forces” in politics and the media is necessary to counteract this.
In principle, however, cooperation with the SPÖ and NEOS is an option for Nehammer. Some state governors have also already spoken out in favor of a coalition between the ÖVP and the SPÖ. There are federal states where the ÖVP and SPÖ govern together, and just as many where there is a coalition between the ÖVP and the FPÖ, “so nothing can be deduced from that,” he said, not revealing his cards. As far as future cooperation with the Greens is concerned, his yardstick is whether there is constructiveness or whether “the destructive forces in the respective negotiating teams are so strong” that it makes no sense.
The current government is still working, the Chancellor assured, recalling the agreement on the pension increase this week. The coalition recently agreed on a new EU Commissioner, namely Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (ÖVP). The Chancellor explained why he chose Brunner and not Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP), who was also interested in the job: “It is a fact that Magnus Brunner’s previous work offers the broadest range of options for this specific position and in line with the EU’s agenda. Especially when it comes to making Europe more competitive again.” Finance ministers also “always play a very important role in the EU, which is why they are welcome in the Commission.” Nehammer left open which specific department he would like for Brunner, but stressed once again that the Commission “urgently needs to catch up in strengthening Europe as a business location.”
Sharp criticism from the opposition
The opposition reacted sharply to the Chancellor’s statements on Sunday: Nehammer was a “slanderer and horse-trader,” said FPÖ leader Kickl. The fact that Nehammer “fabulates” that he now wants to strengthen the economy is “downright grotesque in view of the cascade of disasters that has already been caused” in recent years. “Nehammer’s empty phrases remind one at most of Baron von Münchhausen and not of a statesmanlike Chancellor who wants or can save Austria’s economy,” said Kickl.
NEOS Secretary General Douglas Hoyos accused Nehammer of “complete denial of reality and attempted voter deception” with regard to the budget. “All economic researchers, including the EU Commission and the OECD, agree that things cannot continue as before. And voters also know that Austria can no longer tolerate ‘whatever the cost’ and take on debt after debt at the expense of young people, while they themselves pay more and more taxes and receive less and less state benefits in return.” The next government must therefore “of course have the will for tough but necessary reforms – we NEOS are ready for this.”