Austrian politician and businessman
Christian Kern
(
Austrian German pronunciation:
[?kr?sti?a(ː)n
?k?rn]
; born 4 January 1966) is an Austrian businessman and former politician who served as
Chancellor of Austria
from 17 May 2016 to 18 December 2017 and
chairman of the
Social Democratic Party
from 25 June 2016 to 25 September 2018.
A business journalist by profession, the member of Austria's Social Democratic Party served as spokesman of the SPO's parliamentary group leader in the mid-1990s, before he became a senior manager in Austria's leading electricity company
Verbund
AG. In 2010, Kern was appointed CEO of the state-owned
Austrian Federal Railways
(OBB), chairing the
Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies
(CER) from 2014 onwards. Following the resignation of
Werner Faymann
amidst the
presidential election
, the governing Social Democrats nominated Kern for the office of chancellor.
Kern was sworn in as Chancellor of Austria on 17 May 2016, vowing to continue the "
Grand coalition
" with the
People's Party
(OVP), but promising a "
New Deal
" that would bring about more jobs by cutting
red tape
while ensuring ordinary workers receive a share of economic prosperity. Kern criticized the Austrian political elite as being power-obsessed and devoid of a meaningful political agenda about the country's future.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Kern was raised in
Simmering
, a working-class district of Vienna, as the son of an electrician and a secretary.
[1]
He studied journalism and
communication
at the
University of Vienna
followed by postgraduate education at the Management Zentrum St. Gallen.
Career
[
edit
]
Kern started his career in 1989 as a
business journalist
writing for the
Wirtschaftspressedienst
and Austrian business magazine
Option
. In 1991, he became an assistant of the
Federal Chancellery
's undersecretary of state for civil service,
Peter Kostelka
[
de
]
. When Kostelka became chairman of the
Social Democratic Party
(SPO) parliamentary group in 1994, Kern remained his chief of office and spokesman.
In 1997, Kern moved to the largest Austrian electricity supplier, the
Verbund AG
, where from 1999 he oversaw marketing and sales. In 2007 he was appointed to be a member of the Board of Directors, additionally overseeing foreign
mergers & acquisitions
, investments, international business, trading, and the Austrian
high-voltage transmission grid
[2]
CEO of the Austrian Federal Railways
[
edit
]
In 2010, Kern was selected to take over the post as CEO of the
Austrian Federal Railways
(OBB).
[1]
He was appointed chairman of the
Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies
(CER) in 2014.
[3]
Kern has been a board member of
FK Austria Wien
since 2009.
In 2012, OBB celebrated the 175th anniversary of the
Nordbahn
, the earliest predecessor company marking the start of
rail transport in Austria
. Kern inaugurated an exhibition on the company's complicity with the
Third Reich
, named "The Suppressed Years ? Railway and National Socialism in Austria 1938?1945". He referred to that period as "the darkest part of our company's history," adding that "We are obliged to commemorate and with this documentation we would like to further contribute to coming to terms with the past. No matter how incredible these events may seem to us today, we need to clearly accept these times as part of our OBB history."
[4]
The exhibition later went on tour and was presented at the
European Parliament
's
parliamentary building in Brussels
.
[5]
For his extraordinary engagement accounting for the company's past, in June 2013 the
Vienna Israelite Community
awarded Kern the
Marietta and Friedrich Torberg Medal
.
[6]
In the course of the 2015
migrant crisis
, Kern organized the transport of hundred thousands of migrants coming from the "
Balkan route
" across the country. He is considered a supporter of German Chancellor
Angela Merkel
's migration policy.
[7]
Leading
Austrian trade unionist
Roman Hebenstreit
[
de
]
, who is also chairman of the OBB's
works council
described Kern in 2016 as "the first OBB boss to really stand by his workers."
[1]
Chancellor of Austria
[
edit
]
Since 2014, Kern was repeatedly named as one of the possible successors for
Werner Faymann
's chancellor post.
[8]
In 2015, Austrian news magazine
profil
referred to him as the "Chancellor of hearts" and the Federal Railways he led as "the only state institution that flawlessly worked amidst the refugee crisis."
[9]
Half a year later, when on 9 May 2016 Chancellor Faymann resigned from all his posts, Kern was again named one of the candidates alongside Time Warner manager
Gerhard Zeiler
and former Siemens manager
Brigitte Ederer
[
de
]
.
[10]
On a 12 May party session, the Social Democrats agreed on nominating Kern for the country's highest executive office. He was announced to be appointed the new chancellor by 17 May, and to be nominated as party chairman at the upcoming party congress on 25 June.
[11]
[12]
Kern was sworn into office on 17 May by outgoing President
Heinz Fischer
.
At his first press conference, Kern called for a change in the style of cooperation within the coalition government, warning the two parties risked otherwise "disappearing from the screen". He reaffirmed his position that in the refugee crisis, Austria was right not to "leave women and children standing in the rain," while ensuring order and security.
[7]
In spite of his credentials as a manager, Kern's nomination of members of the party's left wing,
Sonja Wehsely
[
de
]
and
Jorg Leichtfried
as new ministers was interpreted as a turn towards the party's left.
[13]
The appointment of Wehsely, who is known for her staunch pro-asylum course during the
European migrant crisis
, was however considered all too controversial, with political analyst Thomas Hofer referring to it as a declaration of war (
"kleine Kampfansage"
) against conservative coalition partner
OVP
.
[14]
Wehsely ultimately declined and decided she would stay city councillor in Vienna.
[15]
At the time, observers expected Kern to follow the centrist examples of German chancellor
Gerhard Schroder
or Britain's
Tony Blair
, combining pro-business policies with a social conscience.
[1]
Kern appointed
Muna Duzdar
, a lawyer and chairwoman of the Palestininian-Austrian Society, as state secretary in the Chancellery, where she will be the first Muslim to hold a government post.
[16]
The fact that Duzdar, who has previously come out as a sharp critic of Israel, will now be in charge of Jewish community affairs, irritated the Jewish community. According to
The Jerusalem Post
author Samuel Laster, Duzdar's appointment may however be considered a "signal of openness" for Kern who is "widely regarded as a friend of Israel."
[17]
In August 2016, Kern announced his opposition to
Turkey
's
accession to the European Union
.
[18]
Soon after taking office, Kern's government implemented several law-and-order measures, including a ban on Muslim face-covering veils and a tightening of immigration rules.
[19]
In June 2017, Kern criticized the draft of new U.S. sanctions against Russia that target EU?Russia energy projects, including
Nord Stream 2
gas pipeline.
[20]
In a joint statement Kern and (Germany)'s foreign minister
Sigmar Gabriel
said that "Europe's energy supply is a matter for Europe, and not for the United States of America."
[21]
In October 2017's
snap general election
, Kern's SPO got defeated by Sebastian Kurz'
OVP.
Kurz decided to form a
coalition
with the
FPO
. From December 2017 Kern was leader of the opposition.
Resignation from politics
[
edit
]
In September 2018, Kern announced that he would resign as national party leader and instead run as top candidate for the Austrian Social Democrats in the
European Parliament elections
.
[22]
However, in October 2018 he announced he was quitting politics completely. His successor as party leader is
Pamela Rendi-Wagner
and
Andreas Schieder
was presented as top candidate in the EU Parliament elections.
Other activities
[
edit
]
Corporate boards
[
edit
]
Non-profit organizations
[
edit
]
- European China Business Council, President (since 2019)
[25]
- FK Austria Wien
, member of the board of trustees
[26]
- Rechtskomitee LAMBDA (RKL), member of the board of trustees
- Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, member of the political advisory board (since 2018)
[27]
Personal life
[
edit
]
In 1985 Kern married Karin Wessely, with whom he has three sons. In 1988, his marriage with Wessely, who was a local SPO politician in
Modling
, a district capital south of Vienna, ended in divorce. Wessely however supported his nomination as successor to Faymann, and highly praised him as a charismatic personality, who is able to unite the more left-aligned and the more right-aligned factions of their party.
[28]
With his second wife, Eveline Steinberger, he has a daughter.
[2]
This marriage was divorced in 2022.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Christian Kern: no more normal service"
.
The Local
. 13 May 2016
. Retrieved
23 May
2016
.
- ^
a
b
Luise Ungerboeck (10 March 2010).
"Kopf des Tages: Christian Kern"
.
Der Standard
(in German)
. Retrieved
11 May
2016
.
- ^
"CER Chairman Christian Kern to become new Austrian Chancellor | CER:Home"
.
Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies
. Archived from
the original
on 17 July 2020
. Retrieved
20 May
2016
.
- ^
"Repressed Years ? the Austrian Railways and National Socialism between 1938 and 1945"
(Press release). Agentur Milli Segal. Archived from
the original
on 11 June 2015
. Retrieved
23 May
2016
.
- ^
"The Suppressed Years Railway and National Socialism in Austria 1938 ? 1945"
(PDF)
.
OBB
. 2014
. Retrieved
21 May
2016
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"Torberg-Medaille fur Christian Kern"
(in German). OBB. Archived from
the original
on 12 May 2016
. Retrieved
21 May
2016
.
- ^
a
b
Ralph Atkins (17 May 2016).
"New Austrian leader warns mainstream parties may 'disappear'
"
.
Financial Times
. Retrieved
21 May
2016
.
- ^
Rosemarie Schwaiger (2 August 2014).
"OBB-Chef Christian Kern hat Chancen, Nachfolger von Kanzler Faymann zu werden"
.
profil
(in German)
. Retrieved
21 May
2016
.
- ^
Eva Linsinger (16 September 2015).
"Christian Kern: Kanzler der Herzen"
.
profil
(in German)
. Retrieved
21 May
2016
.
- ^
Eric Frey
(11 May 2016).
"Kanzlernachfolge: Lieber Zeiler als Kern"
.
Der Standard
(in German)
. Retrieved
21 May
2016
.
- ^
"SPO legt sich offenbar fest"
(in German).
ORF
. 12 May 2016
. Retrieved
12 May
2016
.
- ^
Cynthia Kroet (12 May 2016).
"Christian Kern named as new Austrian Chancellor"
.
Politico
. Retrieved
17 May
2016
.
- ^
Oliver Pink (12 May 2016).
"Christian Kern: Ein Pragmatiker mit Linksdrall"
.
Die Presse
(in German)
. Retrieved
21 May
2016
.
- ^
"Wehsely als Ministerin ware "Kampfansage"
"
(in German).
ORF
. 13 May 2016
. Retrieved
21 May
2016
.
- ^
"Wehsely sagt Kern ab"
.
Osterreich
(in German). 16 May 2016
. Retrieved
21 May
2016
.
- ^
"Muna Duzdar: Faymann-Kritikerin sitzt nun im Kanzleramt"
.
Die Presse
(in German). 17 May 2016
. Retrieved
27 May
2016
.
- ^
Samuel Laster (24 May 2016).
"Austria's election, Jews and Israel"
.
The Jerusalem Post
. Retrieved
27 May
2016
.
- ^
"Austrian chancellor wants EU to end accession talks with Turkey"
.
euractiv.com
. 4 August 2016.
- ^
Shadia Nasralla and Francois Murphy (6 April 2017),
Austrian Social Democrats move toward ending ban on far-right alliances
Reuters
.
- ^
"
Germany and Austria warn US over expanded Russia sanctions
".
Politico
. 15 June 2017.
- ^
"
Germany, Austria Slam US Sanctions Against Russia
". U.S. News. 15 June 2017.
- ^
Kirsti Knolle (18 September 2018),
Austrian center-left ex-chancellor Kern to run for European Parliament
Reuters
.
- ^
Ex-Kanzler Kern hat nun einen Aufsichtsjob in Russland
Die Presse
, 16 July 2019.
- ^
Melissa Eddy (24 February 2022)
Some, but not all, former European leaders quit Russian boards.
New York Times
.
- ^
Ex-Kanzler Kern nun Europa-Prasident von China-Unternehmerverein
Kurier
, 20 September 2019.
- ^
Board of Trustees
Archived
12 November 2017 at the
Wayback Machine
FK Austria Wien
.
- ^
Bernd Westphal wird neuer Beirats-Vorsitzender beim Wirtschaftsforum der SPD
Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, press release of 7 June 2018.
- ^
"Ex-Frau hofft auf Christian Kern"
.
Niederosterreichische Nachrichten
(in German). 11 May 2016
. Retrieved
12 May
2016
.
External links
[
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]