The number of crimes fueled by right-wing extremism has risen sharply in the past year. It is 1,208, as can be seen from the response of Interior Minister Gerhard Garner (ÖVP) to a query to the SPÖ. In 2022 there were 928.
Specifically, 1,080 acts had a right-wing extremist background (2022: 791), 66 were racist (2022: 51), 43 were anti-Semitic (2022: 33) and seven were Islamophobic (2022: three).
Most of these crimes were committed in Vienna, followed by Upper Austria and Lower Austria. The fewest, 27, were in Burgenland. In 2023, 1,203 people were reported for violating the Prohibition Act (2022: 929). Most of the known offenders were male (773), while 64 were female.
A National Action Plan is needed
“The central government has failed to take appropriate measures against this anti-democratic ideology,” SPÖ commemorative culture spokeswoman Sabine Schatz commented in a press release. The increase in the number of anti-Semitic acts shows that the strategy against anti-Semitism needs to be sharpened. He called for a national action plan against right-wing extremism.
The first right-wing extremism report is expected to be available in the fall; The Archives of the Austrian Resistance (DÖW) were commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior to prepare it. It should cover the years 2020 to 2023. Schatz believes it will “provide a comprehensive database and assessment of the situation.”
