Karl Nehammer – A (party) soldier leaves the chancellery

Actually, most people in the party have nothing against the outgoing ÖVP leader, who was a good political life insurance policy for him. He is considered friendly and sociable and even feels comfortable with other parties. He had worked his way up the People’s Party step by step, and when the Greens did him the favor by kicking Sebastian Kurz out of the government in 2021, the chancellorship became available to Nehammer after the interregnum with Alexander Schallenberg.

He, who had previously headed the Ministry of the Interior, ruled there essentially solidly. He led the government with the Greens to the mainstream, even though some in his party would have liked to flee, but cooperation in the coalition became increasingly difficult. The energy engineer sidelined internal party opponents: ex-Finance Minister Magnus Brunner moved to Brussels, ex-Constitution Minister Karoline Edstadler eventually turned away from top politics – but could now return as his successor after Nehammer’s departure.

A (party) soldier in the Chancellery
Nehammer was a professional soldier and the amateur boxer marched smoothly through his career. Politically, the Viennese were socialized into the tightly organized Lower Austrian People’s Party, later becoming general secretary of the ÖAAB and then also of the ÖVP. In this role he was able to claim Sebastian Kurz’s election success in 2019. As a reward there was the Ministry of the Interior, where he liked to draw attention to himself with martial images, especially during the Corona period – keyword Flex.

In any case, he sometimes lost his way rhetorically, for example when he recommended hamburgers to partying friends as a cheap meal and the video was leaked. Things also became somewhat critical in the Cobra affair when officials caused an accident at Nehammers’ house after a drink. Essentially, the VP chairman acted quite safely until the 2024 election year, which was not exactly encouraging for the ÖVP.

He enjoyed being chancellor
Nehammer will probably miss the office. The outgoing VP boss likes to explain, you could also say that he is passionate about teaching. Meetings at international level were always a pleasure for him. Nehammer even traveled to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin as a peacemaker. Just a few days ago he received, probably his last guest as chancellor, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson for the New Year’s concert.

On the other hand, Nehammer also discussed in his podcast the limitations that such an office placed on himself and his family, wife Kathi and two children. In this regard at least, Karl Nehammer’s life will likely change for the better in the coming weeks, wherever his path leads. There definitely needs to be more time for family and dogs indoors.