Criticism from the Greens – Minister Raab invited to the “Leitkultur” panel of experts

On the values ​​courses, Raab said it is now accepted and desirable to deal with values ​​in the immigration process. Values ​​that are taken for granted in this country, such as the rule of law, democracy, equal rights for women and men and freedom of the press, are not always self-evident for those who flee to Austria. After all, they come from cultures in which women are less valued and in which practices such as genital mutilation or forced marriages are prevalent in Austria.

‘Unacceptable behavior on the backs of women’
But Austrian identity is more than the laws of the country: “it is also about a clear basic consensus in living together.” This is intended to prevent ‘side by side’ instead of ‘being together’. For the vast majority of people with a migrant background, it is not a contradiction to live the Austrian identity without denying their roots, the minister emphasized. The fact that the fundamental consensus she wants does not yet exist everywhere is evident, for example, from complaints from female doctors and teachers: some men would demand male doctors in hospitals, and some boys would have no respect for female teachers. This is unacceptable behavior, “usually on the backs of women and girls.”

Cut back on social benefits if you don’t want to?
People want to think about how the basic consensus can be strengthened, in integration work but also elsewhere. Raab also wants to discuss in the group how teachers, doctors and police officers can be supported and what levers can be used when it comes to family and social services, but also to school attendance and parental cooperation.

Criticism came from the small coalition partners, the Greens and the SPÖ. One participant in the expert panel in particular became heated. Legal scholar Katharina Pabel is an opponent of abortion, say the parties’ women representatives Meri Disoski (Greens) and Eva-Maria Holzleitner (SPÖ). Pabel is represented on the editorial board of the “Zeitschrift für Lebensrecht”.

“Antifeminism as centrist politics?”
“Do anti-feminism and queer hostility belong to the ‘politics of the middle’ that the ÖVP has recently promoted in a litany of ways?,” Disoski wrote during the broadcast. When asked, the minister described the accusations as “absurd”. According to the Federal Chancellery, in addition to Pabel, integration expert Emina Saric, population scientist Rainer Münz, integration expert Kenan Güngör and social law expert Wolfgang Mazal also took part in the conversation.

The FPÖ’s criticism came from the opposite direction: Secretary General Michael Schnedlitz accused the ‘Nehammer-ÖVP’ in a broadcast of, among other things, standing up for ‘rainbow and gender ideology instead of traditional values ​​such as family, intimacy with political Islam and its clubs”. This would “point right, but turn left.”