Event
Details
On 9 October 2022, Austrians will elect a new head of state. Two years before the next election to the National Council (Parliamentary Election), the election of the Federal President can certainly be seen as a test for the mood of politics in the Alpine Republic. The incumbent Federal President, Alexander Van der Bellen, had already announced in May 2022 that he would be available for another term and would stand for election. Since then, six opposing candidates have put themselves forward to challenge the incumbent (Greens), but they are hardly given serious chances. According to current polls, Van der Bellen can expect more than 50 per cent of the votes, while the candidate of the right-wing populist FPÖ, Walter Rosenkranz, as the second strongest candidate, has well under 20 per cent approval. An election thriller like in 2016, when FPÖ candidate Norbert Hofer clearly won the first round of voting and was only narrowly defeated in the second round (which had to be repeated after a previous annulment), is therefore not in the offing this time. However, the question of whether or not a run-off election will be necessary may nevertheless allow conclusions to be drawn about the political climate in the country. Like the rest of the EU, Austria is currently in challenging times and, as a militarily neutral country, is pushing for a diplomatic solution in Ukraine. At the same time, neither the Federal President nor the Federal Government left any doubt about their solidarity with Ukraine and strongly and unequivocally condemned the Russian aggression.
Was Alexander Van der Bellen already able to prevail in the first round with an absolute majority? How should we assess the performance of the other six candidates? What powers does the Austrian Federal President have and what role does he play in day-to-day politics? What impact would a re-election of the incumbent have on Austria's role in the European Union?
The event "The Morning After - Austria has voted" will take place on Monday, 10 October 2022 from 09:30-10:15 CET via Zoom. We are looking forward to discussing the above-mentioned topics with our colleague Johannes Spreitz, Policy Advisor at the KAS Office in Austria. After the conversation between Mr Spreitz and Dr. Hardy Ostry, Director of the European Office of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, the audience will have the opportunity to contribute their questions to the discussion. The event will be held in German and will also be simultaneously translated into English.
For registration, please use the following LINK.
We look forward to your participation!
Here you will find the program for download: Programme 22-10-10 The Morning After (Austria).pdf
