SPIEGEL Interview with Sebastian Kurz 'I Definitely Have a Red Line'

Sebastian Kurz, 31, is set to take over the reins in Austria. In an interview with DER SPIEGEL, he speaks of a possible coalition with the right-wing FPÖ, about his hard-line stance on immigration and how age influences politics.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Kurz, you're 31 years old and poised to become the new Austrian chancellor. Do you sometimes spook yourself?
Kurz: Not in the least. I am aware of the responsibility I am taking on. Things have developed very quickly for me in recent years, but they didn't happen from one day to the next. I have more than six years of experience in government. I took the decision to run as a candidate very seriously. In May, I decided to change the Austrian People's Party and to start a broad-based movement aimed at changing this country for the better.

SPIEGEL: Can you understand that some people are a little spooked to see such a young man in charge of a country?
Kurz: If that's how the Austrian public thought, they wouldn't have voted for me. Austrians have had a while to get a sense of who I am. Other candidates have been on the political stage for a much briefer period than I. Voters probably were much less familiar with some of the candidates in the German elections, who were previously in Brussels.

SPIEGEL: Do you sometimes wish you had more life experience to bring to your new office?
Kurz: We are who we are. You can't become 30 years older just like that. People who are older have the advantage of more experience. But you don't have to despair just because you're young. If young age is the problem, you can take comfort in the fact that it gets better with each passing day. - Read More

SPIEGEL: A newspaper in Vienna last week obliquely compared you to Jörg Haider, the controversial far-right Austrian politician who was killed in a car crash in 2008.
Kurz: I've been compared to Haider and also to Viktor Orbán, I've also been described as Merkel's lapdog. None of it applies. But I am aware that people get pigeonholed in politics and in the media. I try to counter it with the ideas I put forward.

SPIEGEL: In the election on October 15, your center-right Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and the right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) together attracted 60 percent of the vote - marking the biggest share for parties to the right of center since World War II. How do you explain this slide to the right? - More

SPIEGEL Interview with Sebastian Kurz'I Definitely Have a Red Line'

Austrian GamblerThe Meteoric Rise of Sebastian Kurz