Karl Nehammer Austria’s New Chancellor
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Austria's ruling party appoints Interior Minister Karl Nehammer as the leader of the conservative camp, replacing former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
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Austrian newspaper: Karl Nehammer is the right person for the job
Austria's ruling party appointed on Friday Interior Minister Karl Nehammer as the leader of the conservative camp and the country following the shocking resignation of former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
"I wanted to announce that today I was unanimously appointed by the OeVP (People's Party) leadership as party head and at the same time as the chancellor candidate," Nehammer told reporters.
Alexander Schallenberg, who took over as Chancellor in October, said on Thursday that he was ready to resign as "the posts of chancellor and head of the party... should quickly be taken on by the same person".
The Party has also appointed others for several other positions, including a new finance minister to replace Gernot Blümel, Kurz's ally who also resigned Thursday.
Nehammer was born in Vienna in 1972 and worked in the army for several years before becoming a communications advisor. He became a Lawmaker in 2017 and Interior Minister in January 2020, and he faced the first ISIS terrorist attack in Austria, which killed four people.
The Interior Ministry was strongly criticized for having failed to monitor the Austrian gunman responsible for the killings, even though they had been alerted to the danger. This led the Austrian press to describe this period as the worst in Nehammer's life and his position as Minister of the Interior while praising how he handled security events throughout the period.
According to the Austrian newspaper DerStandard, Karl Nehammer is the right person for this position because of his military and political background, as well as his experience and skill in public speaking, not to mention the strong career he built over the years.
