Carinthian Greens warn: Kaiser's ECHR criticism endangers fundamental rights!

Carinthian Greens warn: Kaiser's ECHR criticism endangers fundamental rights!

Kärnten, Österreich - On June 4, 2025, the National Council MP and the state spokeswoman for the Green Carinthia, Olga Voglauer, warned of the dangerous political games that are currently being played for the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In a critical statement, she emphasized that Governor Peter Kaiser questioned the validity of the ECHR, which can be interpreted as alarming and as a knee against right -wing populist forces. Voglauer emphasized the need to strengthen the protection of this convention in times of growing authoritarian tendencies in Europe.

The ECHR, which was signed by 13 member states of the Council of Europe on November 4, 1950 and came into force in 1953, is a central instrument for the protection of human rights in Europe. It applies to over 700 million people in 46 countries and guarantees fundamental bourgeois and political rights. Voglauer pointed out that the existing convention is not a customizable instrument, but is an essential protective shield for the dignity and rights of all people.

criticism of the statements of Peter Kaiser

Voglauer rejected Kaiser's view that the ECHR was rigid and outdated. The ongoing adaptation by case law is proof of the relevance and necessity of the convention. Voglauer criticized the blurring in Kaiser's statements as a dangerous political maneuver that is not in the sense of human rights.

Agnes Prammer, human rights spokeswoman for the Greens, joined this criticism and described the current developments as worrying. She underlined that human rights are the foundation of democracy and called for an inconsistent commitment from ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS to the ECHR. These demands come at a time when the ECHR is indispensable to protect bourgeois freedom.

The importance of the ECHR and its protocols

The ECHR protects numerous essential rights, including the ban on torture, the right to freedom and the right to a fair legal proceedings. In addition, further rights are anchored in additional protocols. The first additional protocol protects property, the right to education and the right to free elections. These rights are not only theoretical nature, but are monitored by independent bodies such as the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

A specific element of the ECHR is a protocol no. 4, which was signed on September 16, 1963 and deals with important rights such as the ban on deprivation of liberty due to debt and the prohibition of the collective transfer of foreign persons. Such provisions are crucial for the protection of individualized rights and freedoms and complement the basic principles of the convention.

ots.at reports that ...

Institut-fuer-menschenrechte.de informs about the EMRK and its importance for the rights of the citizens.

bpb.de explains the specific content and additional protocol that complement the ECHR.