In the podcast “Krone” – Nehammer about espionage: “We are talking about high treason here”

“Kron”: Mr Nehammer, last weekend you called for DNA tests to prevent family reunification. Health Minister Johannes Rauch called this request frivolous because these DNA tests already exist. Was the demand pure populism or did your cabinet overlook this detail?
Karl Nehammer: Apparently, the super election year will probably mean that meaningful listening only works to a limited extent. Because I said that DNA testing must be carried out more intensively. I have instructed the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to tighten up the issue of control. What does it mean specifically? In my opinion, even if there is the slightest doubt, a DNA test should be performed. The documents must be checked very carefully and a greater number of document examiners must be made available to ensure that only family members actually find their way to Austria. I said that. The question is always whether it wants to be heard.

Another topic has heated people’s minds this week. The letter to NATO together with Switzerland, Ireland and Malta. A two-page letter was sent to NATO to promote cooperation. The opposition is talking about accession through the back door…
To be clear: there is no rapprochement with NATO. The reactions are overly dramatic and are once again due to the excitement of a great election year. What is it about? The Partnership for Peace is a long-standing partnership that offers non-NATO states the opportunity to participate in NATO projects and cross-border security measures.

This makes a lot of sense in my opinion. There are always international partnerships, also on behalf of the UN or a European peace mission, where it is important to apply the same standards and to be able to communicate with each other very quickly in the event of crises. It is important that we can act quickly here together. It’s about nothing else. Therefore, all neutral states – including Switzerland – are included. It is a further development of the partnership for peace, it provides greater security and has nothing to do with rapprochement with NATO. This political connotation only serves to deliberately upset people all over again. I think that’s wrong. It is about greater security for Austria through cooperation, but it is not about rapprochement with NATO.

Vorarlberg Governor Markus Wallner will introduce an asylum code for asylum seekers on June 1. The states would like the code to be introduced throughout Austria, so that conditions are the same everywhere. What’s so difficult about it?
The code coincides with my attempts to think bigger, namely the question of dominant culture. It is important to be clear what we stand for in Austria, what is important to us, what has happened in recent decades, where have we learned from the mistakes of history, which also formed a new society after the Second World War and formed. And people should take note of that and accept it when they come to our country. They do this voluntarily because Austria is not a border country, but a landlocked country in the EU. It is therefore important to take a fundamental look at this nationally, but it is of course also useful for states to draw up rules for their respective healthcare responsibilities.

Another refugee deal has now been concluded with Lebanon. The EU will pay one billion euros to Lebanon. Aren’t these types of deals incredibly addictive?
There will be no other option than to conclude such agreements with third countries. I think they are very important and essential. Why is that important? Only when states see that they benefit from cooperation with the EU will we have a chance to fight organized crime and curb this form of illegal migration. Lebanon is also a very sensitive example because the mood in Lebanon is currently turning against the Syrian refugees. You have a social challenge that must be balanced. That is why it is right to help Lebanon. The aim of local assistance is primarily to prevent a new migration movement from arising in the first place. Overall, we need to work much more on how we can carry out asylum procedures in third countries outside the EU in the future – for that we also need international cooperation…

Let’s move on to fall. We wonder, even though we know we won’t get a concrete answer: what would be your favorite coalition partner?
First the voters have their say, only then comes the step of analyzing which majorities actually exist and then come the coalition negotiations.

But at least they exclude certain people – namely Herbert Kickl…
My position is clear: there are red lines in terms of content and there are red lines related to personalities. You notice the radicalization and desire for division on the left and right edges. Also in the language that it is better to incite than to calm down when a dangerous situation arises. The red lines for the ÖVP are very clear: with us there will be no wealth or inheritance taxes. Juvenile criminal law must be tightened. Anyone who can rape at the age of twelve can also face the consequences and go to jail at the age of twelve. Then there are personalities in politics who have been radicalized and believe in conspiracy theories. There are plenty of videos of press conferences online discrediting the WHO or labeling the World Economic Forum in Davos as a meeting of the new world rulers. We’ve all had this in the past – it makes me think. There are boundaries that need to be drawn.

When you say we’ve had all this before, do you mean the Nazi era?
In Austria we had phases and times of radicalization, brutalization of language and exclusion of others. Austria was honored to have overcome all these excesses with the establishment of the Second Republic. The two previously hostile camps of the major parties in the 1930s also found a way to deal with each other in such a way that escalation no longer takes place on the streets. But if you look at how some people are behaving now, how much they are becoming radicalized and how they are using difficult times to scare people, it is the opposite of politically responsible action. Because especially when things get difficult, you must approach crises clearly and sensibly, without causing fear.

Does it actually frustrate you that you are still suffering the consequences of various scandals of your predecessor in the surveys? On the other hand, involvement in the Ott espionage case or a new advertising affair naming all former FPÖ ministers as defendants does not seem to mean a drop in the polls for the FPÖ…
The investigation into very serious allegations is in full swing. We are talking about treason here. It’s also worth taking a closer look. I find it strange – like the way the Freedom Party is handling the friendship agreement with Putin’s party. It is striking that there was direct contact with a suspected spy from the Russian Federation. It is clear that the Russian Federation is apparently willing to intervene directly in a country’s democratic process. It is important to look carefully here, because this is about democracy.

There are only 130 days left until the elections. The EU election campaign is currently underway. Green top candidate Lena Schilling is facing massive accusations from her private life. Is everything private political and is everything political also private?
I’m generally a fan of tough but sensible people. All muddying campaigns that end up in the private sphere ultimately have one result: politics itself is damaged. The atmosphere of confrontation radicalizes…