ÖVP presents concept to combat 'political Islam'
deepseek / deepseek-v4-flash
Österreich
- The ÖVP party academy presented a concept to combat ‘political Islam’, distinguishing between ‘hard-power Islamism’ and ‘soft-power Islamism’.
- Terror expert Nicolas Stockhammer describes ‘political Islam’ as a hybrid threat involving both violent and legal-political methods.
- The concept proposes establishing a cross-party body involving the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Religious Affairs Office.
- It recommends evaluating residence and foreigner laws and expanding intelligence services’ powers.
- It calls for greater accountability of the Islamic Religious Community in Austria (IGGÖ) as the umbrella organization.
- Cooperation with social media platforms is suggested for faster removal of radical content.
- Wolfgang Sobotka emphasized that the concept is not about the Muslim religion but about political Islam.