Paneuropa Austria Warns: Muhm/Niessl Jeopardise Opportunities for Our Youth in Europe!

Haböck: “Do Not Jeopardise European Freedoms for a Quick Headline!”

Stefan Haböck, Federal Chairman of Paneuropa Youth Austria, today condemned the statements by AK Director Muhm and Governor Niessl on the free movement of workers. He denounced them as cheap ‘foreigners are taking our jobs’ rhetoric, which shabbily exploits the current public insecurity: “If poor poll numbers lead to hard-won European freedoms, fought for over decades, being sacrificed for a quick headline, then Austrian domestic politics has reached a new low!”

These statements reveal how low the inhibitions in political debate have become, and that anti-Eastern European slogans can once again be used to stir up sentiment. Yet, it would be more urgent to create jobs, strengthen entrepreneurship, and promote mobility. The problem is not the free movement of workers anyway, but rather migration into social welfare systems – yet Muhm and Niessl refuse to address THIS for ideological reasons.

A misunderstanding with fatal consequences: “If we make access to our labour market more difficult for EU citizens, especially from neighbouring countries, these states will, in turn, naturally regulate this freedom of movement more strictly for Austrians. Who is harmed by this? Not the AK Director, but our own young Austrians, our own youth,” Haböck warns against pursuing these short-sighted ideas further. “Europe’s youth has been separated by walls and barbed wire fences for long enough and has no interest in that anymore. Anyone who wants to rebuild borders wants to throw us back to the state of the 1920s.”

Freedom of movement represents a fundamental right that was painstakingly fought for. We must not stand idly by as crude nationalistic slogans destroy what has been achieved. In a globalised world, where economic dynamism is already steadily shifting to other parts of the world, barriers must not be erected again to ultimately imprison people with ideas, commitment, and drive.

“When the governor of a region, which itself was a border region for decades and massively benefited from guaranteed European freedoms and solidarity, now believes he must summarily restrict the freedoms of European citizens again, then alarm bells must ring for everyone!” Stefan Haböck urgently admonishes!