Karl Nehammer (German:[kaʁlˈneːhamɐ]; born 18 October 1972) is an Austrian politician who served as the 28thchancellor of Austria from 2021 to 2025. A member of theAustrian People's Party (ÖVP), he previously wasMinister of the Interior from 2020 to 2021, general secretary of the ÖVP from 2018 to 2020, as well as a member of theNational Council from 2017 to 2020. Nehammer assumed the chancellorship as the successor ofAlexander Schallenberg, who resigned in order to return to the post ofMinister of Foreign Affairs.[1] Nehammer announced his resignation as chancellor and ÖVP leader after unsuccessful coalition talks following the2024 legislative election. He stepped down as chancellor on 10 January 2025.
Nehammer grew up inVienna, where he attendedKalksburg Grammar School and subsequently Amerlingstrasse Grammar School, graduating in 1992.[2][3] He completed his military service as aone-year volunteer with further service until 1996. In 1997 he was discharged as a lieutenant. He then worked as an instructional trainer for information officers for the Federal Ministry of Defence and as a trainer for strategic communication for various institutions, such as the Vocational Promotion Institute (BFI) and thePolitical Academy of the Austrian People's Party.
Nehammer became active within the ÖVP party organisation after leaving the military, initially working with the party academy. He was then head of the service and mobilisation department at the party headquarters from 2007 to 2008 and the training and networking department from 2008 to 2009. He then became director of the party academy'sLower Austria association and was considered close to then-deputy governorWolfgang Sobotka.[5]
In October 2015, Nehammer was appointed deputy general-secretary and federal organizational speaker of the Austrian Workers' Union (ÖAAB), the trade union association of the ÖVP.[4] During the2016 Austrian presidential election, he was appointed replacement manager for the ÖVP'sAndreas Khol partway through the campaign, but was unable to save him from a historically poor result of 11%.[5]
He succeededAugust Wöginger as general-secretary of the ÖAAB in 2016 and held this position until January 2018. In November 2016, he was also elected regional chairman of the ÖAAB Vienna. Since April 2017, he has been district party chairman of the ÖVP in Vienna-Hietzing.[4]
In the2017 federal election, Nehammer was elected as a representative for Vienna. During the subsequent government formation, he was a member of the ÖVP negotiating team in the area of defence. He was elected as deputy chairman of the ÖVP parliamentary faction on 8 November[6] and was appointed media spokesman. On 25 January 2018, he succeededElisabeth Köstinger and Stefan Steiner as general-secretary of the ÖVP.[7] In September 2018, he also succeeded Efgani Dönmez as spokesman for integration and migration.[4]
Nehammer ran in the2019 federal election in fifth place in the ÖVP Vienna state list,[8] and eleventh place on the ÖVP federal list.[9] He was also one of the ÖVP's five assessors at the electoral authority during the election.[10] In the course of the subsequent government formation, he negotiated in the areas of Europe, migration, integration, and security.[11]
Nehammer was appointed minister of the interior in thesecond Kurz government, and was sworn in on 7 January.[12] Under his leadership, the Austrian government filed charges in mid-2020 against a person who had confessed to spying for Turkey's secret service.[13] He was one of three public crisis managers during theCOVID-19 pandemic, with responsibility for the enforcement oflockdowns and restrictions. He is considered a strong supporter of Sebastian Kurz's refugee policy.[5]
Nehammer led the government response following the2020 Vienna attack. He described the attacker as an "Islamist terrorist" and a sympathiser of theIslamic State,[14] and admitted that intelligence services under his jurisdiction had failed to communicate information that could have prevented the attack.[15] Nehammer's wife and children received police protection as a result of death threats received after the attack.[16]
Nehammer with Finnish prime ministerSanna Marin, February 2023
In October 2021,Sebastian Kurz resigned as chancellor in the wake of a corruption investigation and was succeeded by Foreign MinisterAlexander Schallenberg. Kurz remained as leader of the ÖVP until 2 December, when he announced his retirement from politics. Soon afterwards, Schallenberg announced he would not seek the leadership and would resign as chancellor in favour of the new ÖVP leader once one had been elected.[17] On 3 December, Nehammer was provisionally appointed as leader of the ÖVP by the federal party committee and proposed aschancellor.[18][19][20] He was sworn in by PresidentAlexander Van der Bellen on 6 December.[21] In an extraordinary party convention on 14 May 2022, Nehammer was elected ÖVP chairman by 100% of the votes.[22]
During theRussian invasion of Ukraine, Nehammer visited the Ukrainian capitalKyiv on 9 April 2022, and then Moscow, where he met Russian presidentVladimir Putin on 12 April 2022. Nehammer said he confronted Putin about Russia'swar crimes in Ukraine and told him "it’s necessary to have international justice, the United Nations there."[23] After the meeting, Nehammer warned that Putin was planning anew offensive in eastern Ukraine.[24]
Nehammer with Egyptian PresidentAbdel Fattah el-Sisi, Italian Prime MinisterGiorgia Meloni and other European leaders in Cairo, 17 March 2024
Under Nehammer's leadership, Austria's government implemented a package of measures worth six billion euros ($6.3 billion) in 2022 aimed at cushioning the blow to households of the rising cost of living.[25]
On 8 December 2022 Nehammer was the architect of the sole veto againstBulgaria's andRomania's admission in theSchengen Area on 1 January the following year. This caused an outrage in Romania, whodrastically reduced bilateral relations with Austria as a result. As of November 2024, neither Bulgaria or Romania is fully part of the Schengen Area.[26][27]
Nehammer expressed support for Israel during theGaza war.[29] In October 2023, he rejected calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying that "All the fantasies of truces, ceasefires, etc. have the effect of strengthening Hamas in its determination to continue its action and perpetuate this terrible terror."[30] In January 2024, he criticized South Africa'sgenocide case against Israel.[31]
In the2024 Austrian legislative election held on 29 September, the ÖVP placed second to the far-rightFreedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), which gained a plurality of seats in theNational Council. However, no party in parliament agreed to form a coalition with the FPÖ, which led to Nehammer being asked by President Van der Bellen to form a new government on 22 October.[32]
On 4 January 2025, Nehammer said that he would step down as party leader and as chancellor, following the failure of the government coalition talks between his party,SPÖ, andNEOS after the2024 legislative election.[33][34]
On 22 February 2022 Greek minister of migration & asylumNotis Mitarachi awarded Karl Nehammer the Commendation Medal of First Class Migration Assistance in recognition of Nehammer's and the Austrian government's contribution in managing the crisis inEvros in March 2020.[36]
Nehammer is married to fellow ÖVP memberKatharina Nehammer [de]. They have two children.[37] The couple received criticism in early 2020 after Katharina was appointed spokeswoman for theMinistry of Defence, withHerbert Kickl accusing the government of putting interior and defence policy "in the hands of one family".[38] She began working in the private sector inpublic relations in July 2020. Nehammer's father-in-law is formerORF presenter Peter Nidetzky.[39]
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
