Sebastian Kurz is a former Austrian politician who twice served as chancellor of Austria, initially from December 2017 to May 2019 and then a second time from January 2020 to October 2021.
73 Facts About Sebastian Kurz
2.
Sebastian Kurz entered politics by joining the Young People's Party in 2003 and rose through the ranks there over the following years.
3.
In May 2017, Sebastian Kurz succeeded OVP chairman Reinhold Mitterlehner and ran as chancellor candidate of his party in the 2017 legislative election.
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Sebastian Kurz campaigned on modernizing the Austrian political and bureaucratic apparatus as well as handling the social and immigration issues the country was facing after the European refugee crisis.
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Sebastian Kurz's perceived reformist approach, rhetorical skills and youth were cited as the prime reasons for his landslide victory.
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Sebastian Kurz opted for a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party of Austria.
7.
An investigation into the Ibiza affair by a parliamentary subcommittee, an unstable Cabinet plagued by resignations, and ultimately a corruption inquiry, forced Sebastian Kurz to resign the chancellorship in October 2021.
8.
Two months later, Sebastian Kurz quit politics entirely and started working as a global strategist for Peter Thiel.
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Sebastian Kurz was the youngest chancellor in Austrian history as well as the youngest head of government in the world for about four years.
10.
Sebastian Kurz was born in Vienna, the only child of Elisabeth and Josef Sebastian Kurz.
11.
Sebastian Kurz's maternal grandmother Magdalena Muller, born 1928 in Temerin, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, is a Danube Swabian who fled from the city and settled in Zogelsdorf during World War II, after the Yugoslav Partisans and the Red Army started to regain the territory that was then occupied by the Kingdom of Hungary.
12.
Sebastian Kurz was brought up in Meidling, the 12th district of Vienna, where he still lives.
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Sebastian Kurz obtained his Matura certificate in 2004, completed compulsory military service in 2005, and began studying law at the University of Vienna the same year.
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Sebastian Kurz is in a relationship with economics teacher Susanne Thier; they have a son named Konstantin together.
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Sebastian Kurz had been a member of the Young People's Party since 2003 and was 'sponsored' by Markus Figl.
16.
Sebastian Kurz used a black painted SUV termed the "Geilomobil" for official campaign trips in Vienna.
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Sebastian Kurz was elected chairman of the Austrian JVP at a federal party convention in 2009, where he received 99 percent of the vote; five years later he was reelected with 100 percent.
18.
From 2009 to 2016, Sebastian Kurz served as a deputy co-chair of the Viennese People's Party.
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In December 2013, Sebastian Kurz resigned his parliamentary seat to become the country's youngest foreign minister at age 27.
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Sebastian Kurz opined that a healthy and open relation between the government and religious communities was pivotal for social integration.
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Sebastian Kurz declared the improvement of Austria's relation with the Western Balkans one of his top policy priorities.
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The Green party accused Sebastian Kurz of "adopting the FPO's hate mentality".
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Sebastian Kurz's plans included a second Consulate General in China.
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Sebastian Kurz described the annexation of Crimea and Russia's support of Eastern Ukrainian separatists as "contrary to international law".
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Sebastian Kurz explained that a softening of EU sanctions would be declined without prior local improvements of the situation and that the implementation of the Minsk II agreement by Russia was imperative.
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Sebastian Kurz added that peace could only be achieved "with and not against Russia".
27.
In May 2016, Sebastian Kurz visited Israel and met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
28.
Netanyahu and Sebastian Kurz signed a working holiday visa agreement as well as several arrangements on bilateral educational and cultural issues.
29.
In November 2016, Sebastian Kurz expressed his gratitude as a representative of the European People's Party in a campaign rally of the Macedonian sister party VMRO-DPMNE for supporting the closure of the Western Balkans route, which was later criticized as an indirect election endorsement.
30.
In March 2017, Sebastian Kurz referred to rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea as "NGO insanity", as these would "lead to more refugees dying instead of fewer".
31.
On 18 December 2017, Sebastian Kurz stepped down as foreign minister to become chancellor.
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Sebastian Kurz was succeeded by Karin Kneissl of the FPO.
33.
In 2014, the Kurier already predicted that Sebastian Kurz would run for the chancellorship in the upcoming election.
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The Falter wrote that Sebastian Kurz had already tested the waters regarding campaign funding before assuming the chairmanship and reported that large corporate donors pledged to endow his campaign with several millions of euros.
35.
Already in June 2017, Sebastian Kurz had announced that he would aim for a tax relief in the amount of 12 to 14 billion euros annually, counterbalanced by savings in the bureaucracy and "misguided social services", which would in particular affect child and family subsidy as well as the minimum income received by foreigners.
36.
On 27 September 2017, Sebastian Kurz presented the third part of the election program; "Order and Security".
37.
Since he did not obtain an absolute majority in parliament, Sebastian Kurz decided to look out for a coalition partner to ensure one.
38.
Van der Bellen assented and the Sebastian Kurz cabinet was sworn in on 18 December 2017.
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Under his first cabinet, Sebastian Kurz received the chancellorship and five ministries, while the FPO received the vice chancellorship and six ministries.
40.
Sebastian Kurz supported keeping the cabinet on the condition that Herbert Kickl be replaced.
41.
The next day, the president officially removed all cabinet members from office; although everyone, except for Sebastian Kurz, was immediately re-appointed to serve in an acting capacity.
42.
Finance Minister Hartwig Loger succeeded Sebastian Kurz and served until he was replaced by Brigitte Bierlein and a caretaker cabinet less than a week later.
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Consequently, Sebastian Kurz picked up an additional nine seats in parliament.
44.
Sebastian Kurz was sworn in as Chancellor by President Van der Bellen on 7 January 2020 at 10:00 UTC.
45.
Under his second cabinet, Sebastian Kurz received the chancellorship and eight ministries, while the Green party received the vice chancellorship and four ministries.
46.
Prosecutors allege that Sebastian Kurz bribed news outlets in 2016 to make anti-Reinhold Mitterlehner propaganda.
47.
The bribery scheme aimed at ousting Mitterlehner who served as then-vice chancellor and chair of the OVP, so Sebastian Kurz could take his place.
48.
The Greens pondered supporting the motion if Sebastian Kurz was unwilling to voluntarily step down but were supportive of continuing the coalition cabinet if Sebastian Kurz was replaced.
49.
On 9 October 2021, Sebastian Kurz resigned the chancellorship but announced his intentions to remain party chairman and assume direct leadership of the party in the Parliament.
50.
Sebastian Kurz indirectly retained control over most government ministries, as they were headed by partisan loyalists, who had continuously voiced their unwavering fidelity to him.
51.
On 11 October 2021, Sebastian Kurz was unanimously elected parliamentary leader of the OVP.
52.
Three days later, Sebastian Kurz was officially sworn in as member of parliament.
53.
On 3 December 2021, Sebastian Kurz resigned all of his remaining positions and quit politics entirely.
54.
Sebastian Kurz cited his newborn son as the prime reason for this departure.
55.
In June 2018, Sebastian Kurz introduced a social security reform package termed the Family Bonus Plus Act, which was passed by the Parliament in July and became effective in January 2019.
56.
Sebastian Kurz explained that "centralizing the social insurance system will considerably benefit the insured".
57.
On 16 May 2018, the Sebastian Kurz cabinet enacted compulsory German language classes in the Parliament.
58.
In October 2018, the Sebastian Kurz cabinet passed the Child Benefits for Foreigners Reform Act.
59.
On 31 October 2018, Sebastian Kurz declared that Austria would not join the Global Compact for Migration, claiming it would encroach on the country's sovereignty and fail to demarcate illegal from legal immigration.
60.
In July 2018, the Sebastian Kurz cabinet passed an amendment to the working time law in the Parliament, which has commonly been referred to as the "12 hour work day".
61.
On 19 March 2019, the Sebastian Kurz cabinet presented the mobile application Digital Office for Android and IOS as well as the website oesterreich.
62.
In March 2018, the Sebastian Kurz cabinet repealed a general smoking ban enacted by its predecessor, the Kern cabinet, which was slated to take effect on 1 May 2018.
63.
Sebastian Kurz suggested that this planned organisation should be modeled after the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance which is responsible for the surveillance of right-wing extremism.
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Sebastian Kurz opposes same-sex marriage, and opined that inequality has already been eliminated with the introduction of registered partnerships.
65.
Sebastian Kurz explained that "nuclear weapons are not only a threat to all of humanity, but a dark piece of Cold War legacy, that must be resolutely overcome".
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Sebastian Kurz participated in a review of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and, in 2014, successfully organized his own international conference on nuclear disarmament in Vienna.
67.
Sebastian Kurz opposes any sorts of inheritance, property, and wealth taxes.
68.
In December 2018, Sebastian Kurz announced a nationwide digital tax to partly fund a major upcoming tax reform.
69.
Sebastian Kurz himself reduced his communication to short and often repeated sentences and keywords.
70.
Anna von Bayern of Focus wrote that "one really notices the new and confident approach of the Foreign Ministry", adding that "Sebastian Kurz bestowed upon it new relevance".
71.
Lucas explained that Sebastian Kurz was "easily comparable" with US President Donald Trump of the Republican Party and Italian Minister Matteo Salvini of the Lega Nord.
72.
In March 2019, Sebastian Kurz was elected "word-keeper" of 2018 by the readers of the Deutsche Sprachwelt, and "silent chancellor" became the Austrian Word of the Year.
73.
Since 2022, Sebastian Kurz has been working as a global strategist for Thiel Capital, the California-based private investment company of American billionaire Peter Thiel.