Stocker: "Babler already loses all credibility with untruths in his inaugural interviews"

2023-06-10 10:19:15

Contrary to current protestations, Babler wanted to abolish conscription in addition to the army

Vienna (OTS) – “The new SPÖ chairman Andreas Babler loses all credibility with untrue statements in his inaugural interviews. In an interview with the daily newspaper ‘Der Standard’, Babler replied to the question of whether conscription was still necessary: ’I was always in favor of it’. But if you look at Babler’s previous statements on conscription, this statement is by no means the truth,” states the General Secretary of the People’s Party, Christian Stocker, and refers to a press release by Andreas Babler of February 3, 2011, in which he unequivocally demanded in the title: ‘Not just abolish conscription, but the military in general!’ According to the model demanded by Babler, there should be no more ‘forced service for young people’. The press release can be accessed via the following link: https://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20110203_OTS0272/spoe-babler-nicht-nur-die-wehrpflicht-sondern-generell-das-militaer-abschaffen-bild

“It is just as explosive that Babler, in his press release at the time, stated ‘no participation in EU battle groups and other international combat missions’ and ‘instead [eine] Austria’s return to a credible, active policy of neutrality’, but now in the current interview with the standard considers Austria’s participation in an EU army and military operations without a UN mandate to be conceivable,” said Stocker, who finally emphasized: “With the election of Andreas Babler, the SPÖ decided to go left wing. While Herbert Kickl continues to push the FPÖ to the extreme right, the SPÖ under Andreas Babler is moving further and further to the left. SPÖ and FPÖ have deliberately settled on the political fringes of our political system. The People’s Party is now the last remaining party of the constructive, bourgeois center in Austria.”