In June 2024, the focus of political reporting in Austria was on Chancellor Karl Nehammer of the ÖVP and Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler of the Greens. Both politicians recorded a significant increase in their media presence compared to the previous month.
While Nehammer leads the way with around 130 percent more coverage on a total of 893 articles, Gewessler comes in second with an even stronger increase of 177 percent and 732 articles. This development clearly shows the public's interest in the political decisions and debates that took place in June.
A conflict over the EU Renaturation Act led to a serious crisis in the governing coalition. Minister Gewessler voted for the law in the EU Council of Ministers, which led to fierce opposition from the ÖVP and legal action against her. Despite the differences, Chancellor Nehammer decided against ending the coalition. Vice Chancellor Kogler supported Gewessler's approach as important for nature conservation.
The FPÖ under party leader Kickl was successful in the European elections, even if the results were below forecasts. Kickl nevertheless sees the party as the favorite for the upcoming National Council elections and is planning to form a new group in the European Parliament. The SPÖ with party leader Babler must develop new strategies after the EU elections, as it fell short of expectations. Calls for a stronger focus on migration and security are becoming louder.
Furthermore, the general secretaries of the ÖVP and SPÖ, Christian Stocker and Philip Kucher, saw a significant increase in their presence in June. This was mainly due to the coverage of the EU elections and the discussions on the Renaturation Act. The exact rankings of all politicians can be found in the APA-Comm ranking for the month of June 2024.
Source: die-nachrichten.at
