Austrian FPÖ slams costly immigration office and social spending

FPÖ officials in Vienna criticised the rapid rise in expenses of the city’s immigration and citizenship office, MA 35. FPÖ city councilor Dominik Nepp said the department consumed more than €76 million of tax money in 2025 and over €81 million is already budgeted for 2026, blaming the SPÖ mayor Michael Ludwig’s “welcoming” migration policy for the surge and calling for an immediate asylum stop, deportations of illegal migrants and an end to incentives for immigration.

FPÖ social spokesperson Dr Dagmar Belakowitsch echoed the criticism, citing a market survey that 90 percent of Austrians feel the country is split. She linked high unemployment, pension cuts, rising social‑insurance contributions and the perceived burden of mass migration to the governing coalition’s policies, demanding a course change toward social security and performance‑based taxation.