The deportation of three schoolgirls to Georgia and Armenia has been causing a stir in Austria for days.
Federal President Alexander van der Bellen has now joined the debate.
Munich - Strictly speaking,
Alexander van der Bellen is
no longer a green.
Since 2016, when he ran for the office of Austrian
Federal President
, he has suspended his membership, he wants to be
perceived
as
non-partisan
.
But when he stepped in front of the cameras in his official residence on Thursday and produced a
video
that soon ended up in the social networks, he no longer sounded presidential.
A deeply green spirit spoke from the President's words, and it is seriously disturbed right now.
For days, Austria has been taking part in the
fate of three schoolgirls from Georgia and Armenia
.
Long before they and their families
were
flown to their home countries
on Thursday night
, a debate raged through the country as to whether this measure was justifiable, humanly and legally.
Some said the
girls were
integrated in an exemplary
manner.
The families had been
illegally in the country
for years
, argued the other side.
At five in the morning a police bus set off in front of the Vienna deportation center, watched by a hundred police officers, 160 demonstrators, barking police dogs and many media representatives.
Deportation in Austria: Van der Bellen asks about "the rights of children"
"I cannot and will not believe that we live in a country where this is really necessary in this form," said the Federal President twelve hours later into the camera.
In the
two and a half minute speech he
spoke of
“reason, a sense of proportion, humanity”
, which he had missed, and asked: “Wouldn't there have been
legal leeway
?
What about children's rights? "
The questions were directed primarily to
Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (ÖVP)
, who had vehemently defended the deportation.
The effort, which produced
many disturbing images
, was necessary “
to help
the
rule of law to break
through”.
His ministry referred to several high court judgments that provided for deportation.
The fact that the families lived in Austria for so long was due not least to the fact that they
ignored official requirements
.
+
Concentrated resentment: Federal President Alexander van der Bellen (left) clearly distances himself from the government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
© HANS PUNZ / dpa
Deportation in Austria: Questions from the Federal President highlight the coalition
The fact that such open
questions critical of the government are being asked
from the Hofburg, the official residence of the Federal President,
is not only extremely unusual, but also
highlights the coalition
.
The Greens, van der Bellen's ex-party, are the junior partner.
They
resisted
the
deportation of the families
as vehemently as they were ultimately unsuccessful.
That leaves wounds.
Health Minister Rudolf Anschober
, who repeatedly appears at the side of
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz *
in the pandemic *
, called the procedure "inhuman and intolerable".
Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler
formulated almost word for word.
In the direction of Nehammers, he pointed out that there was “no compulsory legal obligation” to
deport
well-integrated school children
.
The debate about making it
easier
for
children born in Austria to
gain access to citizenship
is also picking up speed.
Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler
finally accused the coalition partner of
staging
a
staging at the expense of innocent people
: “Some in the ÖVP are convinced that they need these images
to keep
votes
.” A lot was broken in the early morning hours of Vienna.
(mbe) * merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network
List of rubric lists: © HANS PUNZ / dpa