NEOS to Raab: Real reforms instead of cheap “leading culture” debates

NEOS integration spokesman Yannick Shetty welcomes the values ​​and orientation courses that have already been announced several times, but does not shy away from criticizing ÖVP Integration Minister Raab: “Even with this, Raab cannot distract from the fact that she and the entire federal government have failed in the area of ​​integration. In addition, we had already advocated for NEOS to expand the courses to 40 hours in 2022 – but at that time the ÖVP simply postponed our application and let it gather dust in the drawer.” The ÖVP has been responsible for the integration area for 24 years – with a short interruption . “Apart from shifting responsibility to the countries and blinding people with empty announcements, it has done nothing in all these years,” said Shetty.

NEOS are the only fresh force in Austria with the necessary energy to actually tackle important reforms in the area of ​​integration. Shetty: “For example, we have been tirelessly pointing out for months that there is an urgent need for a residence requirement in order to fairly distribute those entitled to asylum throughout Austria and to make their integration easier. The fact that Integration Minister Raab continues to completely ignore this problem and prefers to take refuge in populist pseudo-debates and cheap mainstream culture insults is completely absurd. Instead of constantly emphasizing how important St. Nicholas and St. Martin’s Day celebrations are, we must finally set the course to enable real integration from day one.” NEOS Vice Mayor and City Councilor for Education Christoph Wiederkehr is already setting a good example in Vienna, emphasizes Shetty: “We need democracy and values ​​courses in kindergarten – throughout Austria and in addition to religious education. According to a recent survey, more than 60 percent of Austrians want this.”