Austria heads to polls with migration as key issue

DW (English)

Voters are set to choose a new parliament for Austria, where migration equally moves and divides people. The elections are viewed as a pivotal vote for the country – one that could put the far-right Freedom party on top.

Transcript

00:00In Austria, the effects of migration are probably nowhere as apparent as they are in the town of Dreiskirchen,

00:07some 30 kilometers from the capital Vienna.

00:10Here, at the reception center, asylum seekers spend their first weeks in Austria.

00:19This Sunday, voters will choose a new parliament for Austria,

00:23where migration equally moves and divides people.

00:27What's the most important topic?

00:34I'm from Dreiskirchen and the most important issues are foreigners, crime and food prices.

00:48Not everyone should be allowed into the country.

00:51By that I mean the refugees, those who come normally, those who need help,

00:57that's fine.

01:00Migration has no effect on my voting decision,

01:03because we are coping well with the reception center in Dreiskirchen.

01:08In Vienna, political scientist Sylvia Kritzinger says

01:12that migration and security are important topics for many voters,

01:16not just in Austria, but across Europe.

01:19Well, Austria is no exception in this case, because we see it all over Europe,

01:23in the sense that migration is really becoming a very salient topic for a large amount of voters,

01:29so therefore migration for a certain voter, for certain voting groups,

01:34is definitely an important topic that they will consider when voting.

01:38Kritzinger says there is one party that owns the topic in Austria like no other,

01:45the far-right freedom party FPÖ.

01:49They propagate an Austria-first policy.

01:54In the city center, party leader Herbert Kickl says

01:58migrants who do not abide by the rules should be deported.

02:07It's simply not understandable that we have to protect our people

02:11from those who are coming here to seek protection.

02:16Something isn't right with the system anymore.

02:19And that's why we finally need re-migration.

02:24I don't know why the word is supposed to be so evil.

02:29That controversial term, re-migration,

02:32is classified by the Austrian State Security Service as right-wing extremist,

02:37even though Kickl's FPÖ has been leading the opinion polls for many months.

02:42However, Karl Nehammer of the conservative People's Party UFP

02:46has been catching up in the opinion polls in recent days.

02:50In the face of a tight final sprint,

02:53the current chancellor explains to his supporters what he stands for.

02:59We are the politics of the center.

03:02Against radicalism.

03:03We want stability instead of chaos.

03:06The most essential for the future and future challenges is,

03:10we do not want to live from problems, but we want to solve them instead.

03:16While it is for the Austrians to choose in which direction they want their country to go,

03:21the new chancellor will need to find coalition partners to form a government.

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