At a press conference on Tuesday, he referred to a lawyer’s letter signed by, among others, former BZÖ board member Alexander Scheer and called for a special meeting of the ORF committee.
“Massive danger imminent”
There is no legally compliant ORF contribution because the procedure for determining the amount was not changed when the law was reformed or the board of trustees did not determine the amount. The letter says that 15.30 euros per month was only defined as an upper limit. As a result, Westenthaler saw a “massive risk of delay” because as soon as even one decision was overturned in court, there could be an obligation to repay all contributions received so far.
The ORF and the federal government could have avoided all of this if budget financing had been introduced, Westenthaler repeated his well-known position. He also described as “nonsense” the fact that the amount of the tax for companies is based on the amount of wages paid. In any case, it is unreasonable for private households, and the discussion about its administration is unbearable for the ORF.
ORF as a “political fighting organ”
FPÖ General Secretary and media spokesman Christian Hafenecker criticized the public media company in the press conference. He identified a politicization against the Freedom Party, saying that “all the dams had been broken” and that the ORF was acting as a “political fighting organ.”
In a reaction, Neos media spokeswoman Henrike Brandstötter described these statements as “not surprising,” as the FPÖ “dreams of a media landscape like Orban’s Hungary.” At the same time, she criticized the federal government for failing to “finally depoliticize the ORF and thus escape the constant fire of criticism.” But there is no way around a depoliticization of the ORF committees, Brandstötter once again spoke out in favor of an independent supervisory board and a multi-member board with a clear distribution of powers.
