Diesmal für Englischsprechende und -lesende: Aus Politico Europe (weitergeleitet auf Twitter von A.Wolf – 16.5.2019)
„2019 European Elections
Sebastian Kurz bets big on Manfred Weber
Austrian chancellor will need powerful backing to push his agenda for Europe — and he has someone in mind.
5/15/19, 6:41 PM CET
Updated 5/16/19, 8:14 AM CET
Sebastian Kurz wants to save Europe, one schnitzel at a time.
As the European election campaign kicked into high gear this week, the Austrian chancellor laid into Brussels over its regulatory fervor, warning Eurocrats to keep their grubby fingers off his country’s most celebrated creation.
“No one needs EU regulations for the preparation of schnitzel and fries,” he declared out of the blue on Sunday.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker shot back this week that Austria itself had approved the regulation that apparently irked Kurz, on reducing a cancer-causing substance in food.
Such antics have earned Kurz the ire of the left both at home and abroad. Behind his soft exterior and schoolboy charm lies a provocateur of the first order, they claim.
That he extolls the pleasures of the Wiener Schnitzel instead of highlighting the environmental impact of meat production isn’t the half of it. A much bigger beef is his decision to invite right-wing populists into his government instead of isolating them, a move that continues to reverberate in the European Union.
“We don’t need left-wing or right-wing extremists who want to destroy the EU“ — Sebastian Kurz
Kurz plays a unique role in the Continent’s polity by simultaneously epitomizing the divisions that drive Europe’s polarization on issues such as migration and populism, while also managing to straddle them.
Kurz’s detractors ascribe to him an opportunistic zeal that they warn could undermine the “European project,” but the chancellor and his allies insist their mission is vastly more ambitious: to save it.
“Together with my [European] colleagues I’m trying to ensure that Europe continues to have strong political center,” Kurz said in an interview. “We don’t need left-wing or right-wing extremists who want to destroy the EU.”
This month, Kurz put forth a series of proposals to reform the EU with an emphasis on tougher enforcement of existing rules without a further sacrifice of national sovereignty, positioning himself as a foil to Emmanuel Macron, who has pushed a more dirigiste vision for Europe’s future.
Sebastian Kurz with French President Emmanuel Macron | Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty ImagesThough the two leaders agree on issues such as border control and the need to improve Europe’s competitiveness, Kurz calls Macron’s ideas for common EU social policies “utopian,” in light of the vast differences across Europe when it comes to wealth and income.
Instead of Macron’s “more Europe,” Kurz wants more discipline.
“In areas where rules are important, such as in sticking to debt limitations or migration policy, they must be rigorously respected and applied,” Kurz said. “At the same time, countries that break the rules have to be sanctioned.”
Schnitzelkandidat
Kurz’s ideas for Europe have drawn plenty of attention, but he will need powerful backing to push his agenda for Europe.
That’s where Manfred Weber comes in.
Kurz was an early supporter of the Bavarian MEP’s candidacy to become the European People’s Party’s lead candidate — or Spitzenkandidat — positioning himself to be a key player in the political chess game to shape the next Commission, and, by extension, Europe’s future.
Considering Austria’s modest size and weight within the EU, Kurz has occupied a surprisingly prominent role among Weber’s supporters.
“It was Sebastian who gave me the signal to do it,” Weber said recently, adding that Kurz was also one of the first people he consulted with last year about whether to even run.
“He’s managed to rebrand the party and move it a bit to the right while remaining anchored in the center with a pro-EU profile“ — Jakov Devcic, think tank researcher
Before Weber launched his campaign in his home region in Bavaria last month, he collected Kurz at the nearby Austrian border and escorted him to a packed rally, accompanied by photographers and a phalanx of supporters in traditional garb. In his speech that day, Weber was effusive in his praise of Kurz’s “young spirit” and “new ideas,” describing him as a model.
“He won back the people’s trust,” Weber said.
The compliment was more than a friendly platitude. Kurz’s success in reviving the fortunes of Austria’s center-right People’s Party and leading it to victory in 2017 has become a case study for conservative parties across Europe trying to do the same.
Nonetheless, some in the EPP worry that the price Kurz paid — a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party — was too high.
Keeping the far-right party in check has become a struggle. Kurz finds himself having to respond to the offensive and often racist comments by his Freedom Party colleagues on a
A couple of weeks ago, for example, Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, the leader of the Freedom Party, spoke of the necessity to fend off a “population exchange,” a term often used by white supremacists to argue against Muslim migration. Kurz quickly distanced himself from the comment, though not from Strache.
The international media have also taken a skeptical view of Kurz’s government. Time Magazine accused Kurz in a recent cover story of “bringing the far right into the mainstream.” Germany’s Der Spiegel has decried the treatment of foreigners in the country. And earlier this month, the New York Times warned on its front page of the Freedom Party’s “outsize power over the state security apparatus.”
Overblown or not, the steady stream of negative coverage could damage both Austria’s and Kurz’s standing abroad, no matter how hard he tries to convince the outside world that he has the situation under control.
And truth be told, there’s no denying the Freedom Party’s fascist tendencies. Though democratically elected, many political scientists consider the party, which was founded by a former SS general in the 1950s, to have pronounced authoritarian qualities. If the party doesn’t moderate, Kurz could be forced to pull the plug on the government and call new elections.
Rising star
Set alongside the likes of Italy’s Matteo Salvini, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, or his coalition partners in Austria, Kurz’s prescriptions, which are often critical of the EU without being Euroskeptic, seem mild. It’s a distinction he doesn’t miss an opportunity to point out.
“Matteo Salvini isn’t even considering respecting the rules and is even demanding a further softening of the stability criteria,” Kurz said. “Italy can’t become a second Greece. It has a much bigger economy than Greece does and a rescue would be significantly more difficult. That’s why Italy’s high debt level is dangerous and could ultimately threaten the eurozone.”
It’s Kurz’s ability to balance a hard line with moderation, at least on the surface, that has helped make him the star of Europe’s center right.
Though his youth — Kurz is 32 — continues to draw a lot of attention, what’s really driving the interest is that his brand of politics seems to be working.
In his interview with POLITICO, Kurz took a shot at Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini | Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images
Kurz remains more popular than ever with the highest approval ratings of any Austrian politician. While the Freedom Party has declined in the polls, Kurz’s party has padded its lead, suggesting that whatever reservations Austrians have about the far right’s actions, they don’t blame the chancellor.
He has also benefited from a solid economy. Economists say a package of tax cuts passed by the government last month should keep it humming.
That’s why the consensus in conservative circles is that for all of the coalition’s drawbacks, Kurz’s formula of toning down populist demands on issues such as migration and presenting them with a moderate, friendlier face, is worth considering.
“He’s managed to rebrand the party and move it a bit to the right while remaining anchored in the center with a pro-EU profile,” said Jakov Devcic, the coordinator of European policy at the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the think tank associated with Germany’s Christian Democrats (CDU). “His success has made him a role model for many.”
Betting on Berlin
In countries like Poland and Italy, where the center right has been decimated, not even Kurz’s playbook is likely to help.
But Germany is a different story. Though the CDU isn’t about to entertain a coalition with the far-right Alternative for Germany party, it has followed Kurz’s lead in shifting to the right under the leadership of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Angela Merkel’s successor as party leader.
In order for Kurz to push his agenda in the EPP, maintaining close links to both Kramp-Karrenbauer and the broader CDU, the largest party in the group, will be essential.
So far, Kurz appears to be doing just that.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn, a senior CDU official who has gotten to know Kurz in recent years, praised him as a “level-headed and pragmatic politician.” Spahn, who is also in his thirties, sees Kurz as a kindred spirit, someone who could help give the EPP — a party family dominated for decades by the likes of Juncker and Wolfgang Schäuble — a fresher face.
“I’m going to fight for Manfred Weber to become the next Commission president. He’s the right person for the job“ — Sebastian Kurz
“As Austria’s chancellor, he provides valuable impulses that will help ensure the EU’s success,” Spahn said.
Kurz clearly recognizes that Berlin is the key to making his influence felt in Europe. He regularly appears in German media, offering his views on a broad range of issues. And while he has clashed with Merkel over migration, his more restrictive approach is in tune with many others in the CDU.
Indeed, the German chancellor’s expected departure in the near- to medium-term could open the door for Kurz to play an even larger role in the EPP.
That’s not to say that Kurz’s strong backing of Weber isn’t without risk. If the Bavarian’s bid to become Commission president fails, Kurz’s credibility and influence over European politics would take a hit.
That may not matter much in the grand scheme of things given that Austria has never held much sway in the EU to begin with. But for Kurz personally, it would be a blow.
Manfred Weber is Kurz’s man for the top EU job | | European Union
He clearly regards himself as a transformational figure beyond Austria’s borders. Without Weber as Commission president, he’d be back to square one.
If Weber wobbles, the big question is how long Kurz sticks by him. Some in the EPP worry that Kurz will dump Weber at the first sign of trouble in order to limit the damage to his own image. But Kurz insists that’s not in his game plan.
He warned that following the EPP’s strong endorsement of Weber as its lead candidate, letting him drop “would lead to a further loss of trust in politics.”
“You can’t explain that to people,” he said. “I’m going to fight for Manfred Weber to become the next Commission president. He’s the right person for the job.”
Authors:
Irmi Novak 