Former groups in Austria: dismayed about drastic budget cuts!

Former groups in Austria: dismayed about drastic budget cuts!

The current budget cuts in Austria directly affect the autochthonous ethnic groups, which have reacted with dismay to the announced cuts. According to a report by the vienna.at, ethnic group funding will be reduced by 189,000 euros in 2025, which sums up a total of 599,000 euros in 2026. The constant conference of the advisory councils of the affected groups has written an open letter in which it sharply criticized the decision and asks the government to prevent the cuts.

The incisions in particular concern associations, education initiatives and cultural projects that are crucial for intercultural dialogue and multilingualism in Austria. The projects for language funding and intercultural education initiatives are particularly suffering. The ethnic groups require an adaptation of the grants to inflation and a better budgetary situation in order to secure cultural diversity and commitment in society.

political reactions

The political reactions to the budget cuts are also numerous. The Greens, represented by the ethnic group spokeswoman Olga Voglauer, express sharp criticism of reducing ethnic group promotion as part of budget consolidation. Voglauer emphasizes in a broadcast that the cuts not only affect support for the ethnic groups, but also long -term negative effects on cultural diversity, commitment and participation of people. In 2025, 100,000 euros will be made available for intercultural funding and 89,000 euros for other grants than in the previous year.

for 2026, the savings in the other grants even fall to 568,000 euros compared to 2024.

promotion of ethnic groups

Responsibility for the promotion of ethnic group lies with the Federal Chancellery, which manages the grants in accordance with the ethnic group law. This law provides to secure the specific properties and rights of ethnic groups in Austria. Intercultural projects that promote the coexistence of the various ethnic groups are also supported. Applications for ethnic group funding must be submitted online via the federal transparency portal, and the application has already been concluded for the upcoming year of funding 2025.

The billing documents for ethnic group funding 2025 must be submitted by January 31, 2026 to ensure smooth processing. The general conditions and templates for billing are available in various PDF documents on the website of the Federal Chancellery. The annual reports are also regularly transmitted to the National Council to ensure transparency and traceability.