ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors analyze the parliamentary debates that preceded the passing of two very important laws on immigration, namely the 1997 Foreigners Act and the 2002 "Integration Agreement." The perspective of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) as a party of the radical right, migrants are also regarded as a group of people who have no right to political representation in Austria. The Foreigners Act was passed in a crucial year for Austrian immigration policy, and was proposed by the SPO-OVP government virtually in parallel with the proposal of a "second" Asylum Act. It is through the words and actions of the FPO that migration has changed its public meaning in the new geopolitical situation prevailing in Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain and the demise of the Soviet empire. The FPO's anti-opposition discourse was also structured largely around arguments related to migration and asylum.
