The Austrian Chancellor has proposed a ban on ‘political Islam’ in his country.
Speaking to Heute last week, Christian Stocker – who has led the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) since January 2025 – said: “If Islam is interpreted politically, it is incompatible with our democracy and our Western values.”
He emphasized that the religion itself would not be banished from Austria, but he opposed the use of Islam in politics: ‘We uphold freedom of religion – everyone can believe what they want and practice their faith. But when religion is used politically, we must oppose it with the utmost determination.”
He added: “I am therefore in favor of banning political Islam through a constitutional law.”
According to the 2021 census, Muslims make up 8.3 percent of the population, making them the largest religious minority in Austria.
Both the number and percentage of Muslims have grown since at least the 1970s.
Mr Stocker added in a social media post this week: ‘I don’t want our children and grandchildren growing up in an Islamic State. In Austria everyone can believe whatever they want.
“This freedom of belief is protected by our Constitution. But where believers and non-believers are distinguished, where men and women are not equal, where our institutions, authorities and courts are not respected, that freedom ends.
A police officer asks a Muslim woman to reveal her face in Zell am See, Austria, on October 1, 2017
“Just as we protect the practice of religion, we must protect our democracy.”
The move was supported by Integration Minister Claudia Bauer, who said: “Radical Islam is the greatest danger of our time, for our Western democracy, for the freedom of girls and women and for everyone who wants to practice their religion peacefully and freely.”
After his announcement last week, other parties have expressed their willingness to support these measures.
State Secretary of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), Jörg Leichtfried, said on Monday that democracies must defend themselves “when a religion is abused to attack this state governed by the rule of law and this democracy.”
Mr. Leichtfried, who oversees the State Protection and Intelligence Directorate, said his party wants to look at the ÖVP’s proposals, discuss them “and then jointly decide on something along those lines.”
The NEOS party said on Sunday it was “open to anything that makes Austria safer”, although faction leader Yannick Shetty said he was waiting for a “legally feasible proposal”.
Legal experts have said that because there is no clearly defined idea of ’political Islam’, a legally enforceable ban would be difficult to get off the ground.
Constitutional law expert Peter Bußjäger told a local broadcaster that anti-democratic activities are already prohibited under existing laws, adding that he did not see what additional benefits a separate ban on political Islam would bring.
Earlier this year, a poll in Austria found that 41 percent of young Muslims agreed with the statement their religious beliefs supersede the laws of the land.
The report, which examines religious attitudes among young people, was commissioned by the city of Vienna and was based on interviews with 1,200 people aged 14 to 21.
Researchers also found that 46 percent of young Muslims surveyed believed people should be willing to “fight and die,” Austrian newspaper Heute reports.
Furthermore, 65 percent believe that Islamic rules should strictly apply to all aspects of daily life.
Commenting on the investigation, Nico Marchetti, secretary general of the ÖVP, said the findings paint a “devastating picture” and should serve as a “clear warning signal.”
He said: “If 41 percent of young Muslims place Islamic precepts above our laws, then that is a situation we cannot accept. Everyone who comes to us must adapt and become part of our society.’
The ÖVP Secretary General continued: ‘Austria cannot and will not become a caliphate. Anyone who rejects these principles has no place in our country.”
Chancellor Christian Stocker (pictured) said: ‘If Islam is interpreted politically, it is incompatible with our democracy and our Western values’
The findings also prompted a strong response from Austria’s right-wing opposition party FPÖ.
Politician Harald Vilimsky said about X: ‘We have been warning about this for decades. Was insulted and slandered for it. Now Sharia has become entrenched in Europe.’
Viennese FPÖ leader Dominik Nepp said the results were “an alarm signal for all of Austria” and blamed decades of failed migration and integration policies under the city’s Social Democratic leadership.
In 2017, a Chatham House poll found that 65 percent of Austrians agreed with the statement that ‘all further migration from predominantly Muslim countries should be stopped’.
Austrian respondents were among the most likely to agree with the statement.
