At the beginning of December, Chancellor Karl Nehammer started his own podcast under the title “Karl, how are you?”, which aims to portray the ÖVP boss as “up close and personal” as possible. Of course, current political issues are not neglected either. The current episode is about the unrest in Syria and the slow coalition negotiations.
Regarding the latter, Nehammer noted in a conversation with moderator Georg Wawschinek that it is “important now to discuss everything” before there is “silence and arguments” later in a three-party coalition. “This is rightly a concern for the people,” said the Chancellor, who “wants to take this responsibility into account.” It is also the first time that three parties have to come together.
Some regions were already safe under Assad
In addition to the coalition talks, the situation in Syria following the fall of long-term ruler Bashar al-Assad is currently receiving a lot of media attention. As a first step, many European countries, the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled the terrorist regime in Damascus, have now frozen all asylum procedures for Syrian citizens. In a second step, the intention is to encourage refugees to return with ‘starting aid’ – 1,000 euros is offered in Austria.
“We help everyone who wants to return voluntarily”
Nehammer emphasizes that with the fall of the Assad regime, a reason to flee has disappeared. “We are now helping everyone who wants to return voluntarily. A maximum of 1,000 euros is available for this,” explains the Chancellor, who emphasizes that the situation has already changed in recent years. There were already safe areas in Syria under Assad. As an example, Nehammer also cites the fact that in the course of the fighting between the Shia terrorist militia Hezbollah and Israel, many Lebanese and Syrians fled Lebanon to Syria “because it was safer there at the time.”
When assessing the new situation in Syria, information from the Turkish government is also relied on, because it is not only a neighboring state, but was also intensively involved in the overthrow of Assad. As a further point, the ÖVP leader also cites the images of celebrating Syrian refugees in Austria and Germany after the regime change became known. “We want to go home,” was also the voice of many people involved.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
