Carinthian Governor Fellner questions SPÖ proposal for mandatory civilian service exercises

Proposal to shorten military service

Fellner also brought forward a proposal to shorten basic military service for firefighters. Anyone who has already served for several years in the volunteer fire department should be able to shorten their military service by a few weeks, regardless of its duration. This is intended to honor voluntary commitment.

The governor also commented on federal politics and gave a clear assessment of the SPÖ's polling numbers. The party's poor numbers must be taken seriously, Fellner said: „Ich glaube, dass wir das ernst nehmen müssen, dass wir uns immer und immer wieder zusammensetzen müssen, schauen, was sind die Schritte, die wir unternehmen, damit das wieder erfolgreich wird“.

Criticism of the federal SPÖ

With a view to the federal SPÖ, Fellner also left open whether the seriousness of the situation is actually recognized there. „Ob die Ernsthaftigkeit auch tatsächlich auf Bundesebene so angenommen wird, das lasse ich jetzt einmal so im Raum stehen“, he said with regard to federal party chief Andreas Babler.

Fellner called on the federal party to first clarify why the government's relief measures are not resonating with voters. As long as this does not happen, he said he would „von Wien keinen Rückenwind bekommen“. At the federal level, however, a „sozialdemokratische Handschrift“ is already discernible: „Da reden wir definitiv von Erleichterungen für die Menschen in Österreich“.

On the question of military service reform, Fellner expressed confidence that the SPÖ and ÖVP could agree on a functional design of basic military service. He did not provide details.

Peter Kaiser as the favorite for Federal President

For the Hofburg, Fellner meanwhile put forward his predecessor in office. „Aus meiner Sicht wäre Peter Kaiser die beste Wahl“, he said with regard to the function of the Federal President, who in Austria, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, also represents the military. Kaiser was Governor of Carinthia before Fellner.

With this, the Carinthian governor positions himself in an ongoing internal party debate against parts of the federal SPÖ and simultaneously sends a signal toward Vienna. The debate over the design of basic military and civilian service is thus likely to continue to gain momentum within the SPÖ as well.