In a highly controversial move, likely to get him into hot water with the European Commission, Austrian Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz, who rules a centre-right government, announced today that Austria would cut benefits payments for any non-German-speakers or refugees that are unable to pass a German test. He also stated his surprise to find that half of all welfare recipients in Vienna were refugees.
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Chancellor Mr Sebastian Kurz addressed a news conference where he presented his latest move, a total reformation of the social payments system. One of the most striking measures was that a German test will be introduced for all those claiming welfare.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Austria plans benefit cuts for non-German speaking foreigners, refugees <a href="https://t.co/aj2LdoG01h">https://t.co/aj2LdoG01h</a> <a href="https://t.co/kNPmS5YNJJ">pic.twitter.com/kNPmS5YNJJ</a></p>— DutchNewsAgency (@DtchNws) <a href="https://twitter.com/DtchNws/status/1001156133866778628?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Mr Kurz: "the fundamental rule we will introduce is that German will become the key to accessing the full minimum benefit. That means that whoever has insufficient language skills will not be able to claim the full minimum benefit."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="de" dir="ltr">Schlüssel zum Bezug der <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mindestsicherung?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Mindestsicherung</a> wird künftig das Beherrschen der deutschen Sprache sein. Gleichzeitig werden <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Alleinerzieher?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Alleinerzieher</a> besser gestellt. 3/3 <a href="https://t.co/fvfXz7ETWu">pic.twitter.com/fvfXz7ETWu</a></p>— Sebastian Kurz (@sebastiankurz) <a href="https://twitter.com/sebastiankurz/status/1001060689597919232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The young Austrian prime minister’s government has aligned itself more and more with Hungary’s government of Mr Orban, and he has taken a very harsh anti-immigration stance. He explained during his press conference that most people on the minimum welfare payment were foreigners living in Vienna, a statistic he found ‘frightening’ as it means, according to his right-wing coalition partners, that Austrians are paying taxes for non-Austrians.
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The maximum benefit payment would thus be capped at $650 per month for those not able to pass a German language test, and child allowances would also be reduced. However, given the EU’s freedom of movement directive, Austria is by law required to treat all EU citizens equally, something the young Prime Minister believes the courts will have to decide upon.
Mr Kurz believed that European law is open to interpretation: "Freedom of establishment is the freedom to work in all of Europe. Freedom of establishment is not the freedom to seek out the best social benefits system and in that sense, this waiting period is, in my opinion, a step in the right direction."
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I welcome this decision. Im a full-time worker in Hungary, Austrias neighbour, and I speak more languages like German, English fluently and a bit Korean. My work language is 90% German. Still I cant make more than 660 Euro equal a month. Work weekly around 52 hours. Ich begrüße diese Entscheidung!!!