Austria to boost ‘political Islam’ watchdog in coalition deal

Austria plans to widen the role of an Islamist extremism watchdog known for exposing the Muslim Brotherhood's activities in Europe, as part of a deal to form a new government.

The three-party coalition is vowing to step up Austria's anti-extremism efforts and take up a fight against “parallel societies” after a spate of ISIS-linked attack plots. It is also planning to overhaul immigration policy with benefits cuts for refugees who fail to integrate.

Chancellor-in-waiting Christian Stocker will lead the government of conservatives, social democrats and liberals who came together to shut the far right out of power. The populist Freedom Party won Austria's election last September but failed to reach a deal to enter the chancellery.

In their coalition deal the new ruling parties warn of “worrying tendencies” of religious extremism and plan to tackle it by “further developing” Austria's Documentation Centre for Political Islam. The centre was set up in 2020 to put Islamists under the microscope as part of an anti-extremism push regarded as one of the most vigorous in Europe. The UAE in 2021 praised Austria for taking steps to “combat extremism and terrorism and eradicate them from their roots”.

In one major report on the Muslim Brotherhood presented to politicians in Vienna in 2021, the centre revealed the group had established vast influence in Europe, with public bodies unwittingly funding it via well-meaning outreach to minorities. It also courted controversy by publishing an “Islam map” showing the names and locations of more than 600 Austrian mosques.

The centre will now be given government department-like status meaning it interacts directly with Austria's parliament and fields questions from MPs. “The various organisations responsible for security, togetherness and integration must have enough powers and capacity to carry out their roles,” the text of the coalition deal says.

“This requires impeccable research and evaluation of these developments, which the Documentation Centre for Political Islam provides, in order to identify specific actors and draw clear conclusions for action.”

Security scares

Ministers will also consider “limiting the freedom” of people considered security risks in Austria. After a gunman killed four people in Vienna in 2020 it emerged he was a known ISIS supporter who had avoided arrest despite being spotted meeting an arms dealer to buy AK-47 rifle ammunition.

A security crackdown followed but Austria had a major scare last year when the CIA tipped it off about an alleged ISIS plot against a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna. The show at a 65,000-seater stadium was cancelled as police swooped on two teenagers with roots in the Balkans, raising new fears about young people being radicalised online.

Two weeks ago a Syrian knifeman stabbed six people in the Austrian town of Villach, killing a 14-year-old boy, in an attack that authorities said had an “ISIS connection”. In a further scare last week, a teenager with suspected ISIS sympathies was arrested on suspicion of planning an attack at a Vienna railway station.

Mr Stocker, of the People's Party, will replace his party colleague Karl Nehammer, who quit as Chancellor in January after failing to form a government. The coalition parties say they will toughen the criminal law on religiously motivated extremism and political Islam, and strengthen counter-radicalisation efforts in schools and youth centres. Carrying certain kinds of knives will be banned and groups who reject Austria's democratic principles face stricter rules on forming associations.

A new immigration policy with the slogan “integration from day one” will penalise migrants if they fail to co-operate with a programme of German lessons and teaching of Austrian values. The parties say it will count against asylum seekers if they do not appear willing to integrate, and vowed to crack down on “parallel societies in which other values and norms apply”.

The far-right party shut out of power had campaigned on “banning” political Islam, something critics say is not possible. It disparaged the new government as a “trio of losers” with a muddled asylum policy.

The conservatives leading the new government said Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl “was not prepared to compromise” in coalition talks. Austria was left in limbo for months as earlier attempts by the centre-right to make a deal with the Social Democrats and broke down, prompting Mr Nehammer's resignation.