Austrian chancellor’s message to Juncker: Get used to me

Christian Kern says it’s him or the far right.

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern, criticized as a “slim-fit Trump” over proposals to limit freedom of movement for EU citizens and prioritize local job-seekers over foreigners, said he has told European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to get used to the idea that he’s in power.

The alternative, said Kern, is a far-right government led by the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ).

Speaking at a World Economic Forum session on “Strengthening Democracy,” Kern said: “I say to Jean-Claude Juncker ‘you can discuss (the jobs issue) with me or in six months you will discuss it with someone different and it will be a completely different discussion.”

Kern at first denied that his idea to prioritize local workers was a concession to the FPÖ, but later admitted that right-wing parties were a “catalyst” for his labor market ideas. Kern accused Bulgarians and other East Europeans of coming to Austria because its welfare payments outstrip salaries elsewhere. He described the trend as “countries exporting their unemployment.”

Kern, a political novice drafted into the chancellor role in 2016 without facing the electorate, is getting a baptism of fire from the millions of supporters of the far-right FPÖ party.

“I wrote a political and economics essay in FAZ that was 25,000 characters” in length, Kern said, “but the replies I got were on Twitter — 140 characters.”

Beyond that Kern said he finds it difficult to debate with citizens angry at Austria’s mainstream parties. “People say they want change. I ask ‘what change?’ and they say ‘change!’” Kern said he pushes them to be more specific and the typical response is “I don’t care, I want you on your knees.”

The problem for centrists is that they offer neither answers nor solutions to the struggling middle classes, said Kern, and so find themselves on the political back foot.

“We need new answers and to become much more open-minded. The center parties have not been change-drivers. They need to deliver answers. The right-wing populists have answers — no solutions — but they have answers.”

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