Austria provides resistance: FPÖ appeal against WHO rules!

Austria provides resistance: FPÖ appeal against WHO rules!

On July 18, 2025, Austria took a significant step by making a legal objection to the changes in the international health regulations of the World Health Organization (WHO). This objection is seen by the FPÖ as the success of its initiatives, which includes the petition "Stopping who pandemic contract" petition. According to [ots.at] (https://www.ots.at/presseaus-sung/ots_20250718_ots0060/fpoe-kaniak-recht-lecht- against whho-regelster-freestlichen-freitliche-werstand-Werkt) have already supported the petition, which underpins public pressure.

Gerhard Kaniak, a health spokesman for the FPÖ, has given the assessment that the objection is an important step against a possible disempowerment of the nation states in the health sector. The objection does not bind Austria to the new guidelines of the WHO, and Kaniak criticizes that this was only made for formal reasons. He suspects that the government plans to withdraw the objection as soon as the parliament agrees.

urgent application in the National Council

The FPÖ has also submitted an urgent application to the National Council, which is directed against the changes in international health regulations. These changes should focus on pandemic prevention, and a large number of parties, including ÖVP, SPÖ, Neos and Greens, support international cooperation. They emphasize that the sovereignty of Austria is not endangered, since the WHO can only make recommendations and cannot issue binding requirements, as can be seen from parlament.gv.at

The FPÖ, on the other hand, remains skeptical and expresses concerns about a possible interference in national sovereignty. Peter Wurm from the FPÖ indicates the psychological damage that Corona pandemic left in children. Marie-Christine Giuliani Sterrer also criticizes that the Minister of Health has lack of medical knowledge. Dagmar Belakovich addresses the deadline until July 19 to contradict the changes.

international cooperation and pandemic agreement

In a broader context, the WHO Member States agreed on a draft for an international pandemic agreement to be used to protect against future health crises. According to the [unric.org] (https://unric.org/de/who- Member States-einige--sich-auf-pandehung/), the draft in Geneva was finalized and includes measures to strengthen national health systems and international cooperation in disease prevention. WHO General Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described this moment as historical and emphasized the importance of multilateral cooperation. National sovereignty is maintained because the WHO has no authority to order national laws or measures.

The draft of the agreement will be presented in the World Health Assembly in May, and the farewell is intended for the upcoming Geneva annual meeting of the 194 WHO members. In the middle of these developments it becomes clear that the resistance of the FPÖ is based on the WHO requirements on a broader political and social discourse.