“Tell me one point at the European level where I could work with the FPÖ! The FPÖ makes that impossible,” he once again differentiated himself from the Freedom Party in the APA interview. In the election, Lopatka wants to make the ÖVP the party with the largest mandate; a second goal is for the European People’s Party (EPP), of which the ÖVP is part, to remain first in Europe.
In surveys, the FPÖ has been leading in EU and National Council elections for months, while the ÖVP and SPÖ currently look like a race for second place. Lopatka also said there was a threat of a shift to the right across Europe. Any election result is “of course to be accepted”, but with a vote for the Freedom Party, which portrays the EU as a warmonger on posters, the EU would be weakened. For him, Brexit was the saddest day since Austria joined the EU, “for the FPÖ it was a day of celebration.” If there were an exit, it would be associated with a “massive loss of prosperity”.
- Video: Lopatka considers cooperation with the FPÖ in the EU to be “impossible”
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (EPP) had not ruled out cooperation with the European Conservatives and Reformers (ECR) group – which includes the ultra-right Fratelli d’Italia – for a possible second term in office. Lopatka thinks cooperation with other factions is easier. “When you talk about the right-wing parties, you are talking about a divided bunch,” he said about the EKR and the Identity and Democracy (ID) faction. There are “huge differences” between individual parties when it comes to positioning, for example, on the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Above all, Lopatka believes that cooperation with the ID, in which the FPÖ and the German AfD are represented, is impossible given their positioning. The AfD claims in its election program that the EU has failed, which Lopatka rejects with reference to human rights and personal freedoms.
Finding a top candidate for the European elections was not initially easy for the ÖVP, as well-known faces such as European Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) had declined and the Vice President of the EU Parliament Othmar Karas had announced that he would no longer run due to differences with the party leadership. The People’s Party has several highly qualified people for important functions, said Lopatka. When he was asked, it was very clear to him to say “yes”: “Europe has been close to my heart since I was a child.” For example, the ÖVP foreign policy spokesman is chairman of the EU subcommittee in parliament. The 64-year-old wants to appeal to young voters by expanding the Erasmus program, but also with younger faces on the EU electoral list such as Alexander Bernhuber and Sophia Kircher.
Tighten family reunification
According to the election program, two issues that the ÖVP is trying to implement domestically should also be addressed at EU level: The Interior Ministry is currently working on tightening family reunification. “It is best to have uniform regulations across Europe,” said Lopatka. If changes are not possible here, “what we already have will happen.” Despite Schengen, there are border controls in eleven of the 27 member states.
The election program also includes the goal of uniform standards for the monitoring of mobile communications in the context of investigations. The Ministry of the Interior already has a draft law for the monitoring of messenger services; the Green-led Ministry of Justice had previously rejected installing malware and leaving security gaps on devices open due to constitutional concerns. If perpetrators work internationally with the most modern methods, then the answer can only be “an international one,” said Lopatka, who would like to see “more Europe” in this area.
FPÖ leading candidate Harald Vilimsky reacted promptly to Lopatka’s rejection of cooperation on Sunday and asked himself: “How does ÖVP leading candidate Lopatka even come up with the idea that we want to work together with the ÖVP, which constantly sacrifices Austrian interests at the Brussels altar ?” The ÖVP is “the spearhead of the destroyers of Austria” in the EU Parliament.
