VIENNA – Former Austrian Defense Minister Norbert Darabos has issued a scathing open letter to Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler, condemning proposed budget cuts to ethnic minority funding, reported by local Austrian Media News. The move, which would reduce federal support for Austria’s recognized minority communities, has sparked outrage among cultural advocates—particularly within the Burgenland Croatian community, to which Darabos belongs.
Darabos, hailing from the village of Kroatisch-Minihof in Burgenland, called the proposal “deeply disappointing” and urged Babler, who also serves as head of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), to reconsider. In his letter, the former minister argued that the financial impact on the national budget would be minimal, but the symbolic damage to Austria’s diverse cultural identity would be profound.
“For the budget, it’s a small number,” Darabos wrote. “But for Austria’s ethnic groups, it sends a message: that the values so often praised in speeches—diversity, heritage, inclusion—are nothing more than hollow words.”
The controversy comes just weeks after the Austrian Parliament marked the 70th anniversary of the 1955 State Treaty, which enshrined protections for ethnic minorities, including the right to bilingual education and public signage. The treaty laid the groundwork for historic moments such as the 2000 installation of the first bilingual town sign in Großwarasdorf (Veliki Borištof).
At that May 15 ceremony, SPÖ parliamentary leader Philip Kucher lauded the role of minority groups in shaping Austria’s identity—an acknowledgment that now rings hollow in light of proposed cutbacks.
Darabos’s appeal adds growing pressure on Babler, as critics say the cuts would reverse decades of progress in honoring Austria’s multicultural roots.
