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FPÖ attacks: Minister of billions of NGOs in Austria suspected!
The federal government has 4.3 billion euros open to 725 NGOs, FPÖ criticizes abuse and lack of transparency. Facts at a glance.
FPÖ attacks: Minister of billions of NGOs in Austria suspected!
The discussion about the financing of non -governmental organizations (NGOs) in Austria has recently gained intensity. On August 26, 2025, the Federal Government published a comprehensive overview of payments to 725 organizations that have received a total of 4.3 billion euros since October 2019. This extensive amount includes financial resources for non -profit organizations, associations and institutions, whereby 3.3 billion euros have been flowed at public universities alone. The most important critical voice in this debate is the FPÖ, which submitted a collective request with over 2,100 questions to more than 200 pages and suspects a possible abuse of tax million in this area.
In particular, the FPÖ criticized that it received no information about the membership of the ministry employees in the 725 organizations. As the reason for this lack of transparency, the Federal Government stated that this information does not fall into the execution area of the departments and announced a funding tasks to monitor the exams and controls of the funding expenditure. In this context, the FPÖ criticizes the payments as a possible waste of money for non-needed things, while the Greens values this allegation against NGOs, such as [5min.at] (https://www.5min.at/520250840/ngo-foerungen-im-fokus-Fpoe- Government--Detidigt/) reported.
Background of the allegations
The Causa around the NGOs is further fueled by a corruption scandal from 2022, which sparked the debate about EU funds for such organizations. A report by the European Court of Auditors criticized the lack of transparency regarding the funds that flow from the EU to NGOs. Laima Andrikienė, member of the Court of Auditors, commented on the opaqueness of the EU financing and called for further controls to ensure that the EU values are respected by the financed organizations. In the years 2021 to 2023, NGOs received more than seven billion euros in central policy areas, such as cohesion, research, migration and environment, and there is a constant dispute in the European Parliament on the awarding of these funds, reports [https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/Europa/ngo-u-Finanzierung-100.hml).
In the current political climate, the EPP factions, including CDU and CSU, are also criticized. It is discussed that funds on NGOs are used for lobbying and there are potential violations of the rule of law by some of these organizations in the room. Monika Hohlmeier from the CSU emphasizes that EU funds must not be used to undermine the rule of law. On the other hand, the NGOs defend themselves against these allegations and point out that there are no evidence of regular violations or abuse.
Reaction to the allegations
The discussion about the NGO financing is uprooted by a political controversy that also affects civil society engagement. Some EU MPs fear that conservative forces in parliament could push back these engagements, especially in areas such as climate protection. Daniel Freis from the Greens speaks of a coordinated campaign against civil society in Brussels and demands more transparency for all recipients of EU funds.
The topic remains tense, both at national and EU level, and the protection of civil society is considered to be increasingly at risk in politics. The turmoil about the NGO finance is not only an Austrian phenomenon, but also plays a crucial role in a greater context of the discussion about the role and financing of NGOs within the EU, as [Exxpress.at] (https://exxpress.at/politik/oesterreich-ngo-complex-bid- 43-an-725- organizations/).