Austria’s government is beginning work on a proposal to constitutionally ban “political Islam,” following Chancellor Christian Stocker’s call for legislation targeting the ideology that he says is incompatible with democracy and Western values.
Integration and Europe Minister Claudia Bauer is expected to draw up a proposal for Austria’s coalition partners, the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and NEOS. Bauer wrote on X “Political Islam is directed against our free way of life, against the freedom of girls & women, and against all religions that coexist in Austria in a completely natural and peaceful manner.”
I do not want our children and grandchildren to grow up in an Islamic state,
said Stocker. The chancellor continued: “But where believers and non-believers are treated differently, where men and women do not have equal rights, and where our institutions, authorities, and courts are not respected, that freedom ends.”
He has also warned that religious figures must not be allowed to exercise authority over Austria’s democratic institutions. “It cannot be allowed to happen in this country that a preacher dictates things rather than Parliament,” Stocker said.
Stocker also pointed to the religious composition of Vienna’s schools, claiming that pupils with an Islamic religious affiliation now constitute a relative majority in the city’s primary and middle schools. He cited a figure of 41.2%.
“I don’t want anyone in Austria who’s free to spread radical ideologies, undermine our society, and wants to turn the state into a caliphate. The current legal situation isn’t enough,” Claudia Bauer wrote on X.
Bauer subsequently reposted Stocker’s statements and added: “We will fight political Islam with all means available.”
The planned constitutional legislation follows an earlier proposal by Austria’s Freedom Party (FPÖ) in March 2026. That proposal called for activities supporting political Islam or its objectives to be prohibited. It also envisaged dissolving mosques and organizations deemed to form part of political Islam, confiscating their assets, and potentially revoking Austrian citizenship from members or supporters.
Zolta Győri is a journalist at europeanconservative.com.
