Top 97 Quotes & Sayings by Sebastian Kurz - Page 2

As Foreign Minister, I worked to strengthen the cooperation with Israel, and now, as Chancellor, I have more opportunities do this.

I'll fight with all my strength for change in this country.

We are not only responsible for what we do but also for what we do not do.

It's a question of evidence-based politics. If you know that something does not work, you should not keep doing it.

Every country in the E.U. should make a personnel and a financial contribution in that area. We shouldn't leave alone countries like Italy and Greece that have external borders; rather, we must make the external borders safe together.

Migrants who set off for Europe don't want to go to Bulgaria or Hungary. They want to go to Germany, Austria, or Sweden.

We strongly condemn all forms of anti-Semitism as well as any form of downplaying or denial of the Holocaust.

We need sound political and economic relations with the United Kingdom, and I am very grateful to the European Union's lead negotiator, grateful to him for everything he has done. We will do our best to support him and also preserve the unity of the 27 in these matters.

We need a change of course in the European Union. The most important is the focus on the big questions and a European Union that steps back on the small questions.

We view the protection of Jewish life as a mission. We have a historical responsibility, and this is our duty as a republic.

The shutting out or boycotting of selected media cannot take place in Austria.

It took Austria a long time to be honest about its past.

Austria is unconditionally committed to the security of Israel and its citizens.

Many of my supporters, they want to change the system, and they are not in favor of the establishment.

Forcing states to take refugees doesn't take Europe any further.

Any restriction of press freedom is unacceptable.

The concerns of Israel have to be taken seriously.

I have always had excellent cooperation with the Jewish community in Austria.

Israel's security is not negotiable for us; that is absolutely clear.

Many people have placed great hopes in our movement.

We have religious freedom - which is important. But we want everyone in our country to respect our laws, and our laws on Islam say it is not acceptable to have influence abroad on the Muslim community in Austria, and it is not acceptable that Islamic organizations or imams are financed from abroad.

Bibi Netanyahu is a friend whom we work well with.

When we look at the situation in the EU, we need to honestly admit that it desperately needs to develop further, that we need to strengthen it when it comes to the bigger questions - and allow member nations to make more decisions about the smaller questions themselves.

I am also integration minister and speak with many refugees. When I ask if they came with the goal of living in Greece or Poland, most of them answer "no."

We in Austria have always had lots of immigration. But when one starts, as happened in Europe last year, to open the borders and to transport people northwards as fast as possible, then of course it's not just Syrians who come. People from all around the world then see their chance to quickly come to Europe.

I have gotten the sense that developments when it comes to human rights are very alarming. In the long term, it needs to be in our interest to have a Turkey in which human rights are respected. Anything else would mean destabilization right on our border. If we look away, the developments in Turkey will constantly get worse.

We are not always totally happy about how we are portrayed.

The Turkey deal can only be Plan B. Plan A needs to be a strong Europe that is prepared to defend its external borders on its own. If we do not do that, then we are living in a Europe that is dependent - on other countries, and possibly even on personalities like President Erdogan. And dependency is dangerous.

The elections would be free and democratic, and any result would have to be accepted.

We are neither a regional power nor are the Balkans our sphere of influence. These are self-confident countries. We should be particularly thankful to Macedonia, a country that has taken on a very difficult task without profiting from it. Quite to the contrary: Instead of praise, there was criticism from the international media. The reason for our decision was that we were being massively overstretched - we had to stop the influx. Whether that also had a positive impact in Germany, that judgment must be made there.

There has at least been a serious effort on the Turkish side to prevent people from setting off for Europe. Recently, only about 100 people have been arriving in Greece per day. Last year, it was several thousand daily at times. This effort can, however, also very quickly dwindle.

We are who we are. People who are older have the advantage of more experience. But you don't have to despair just because you're young. If young age is the problem, you can take comfort in the fact that it gets better with each passing day.

We have, thank God, a very good relationship with the German government. There were resentments, but they've been resolved. Germany is the strongest player and Angela Merkel is the strongest government leader in the EU.

I would like to have a Europe that has a strong foreign and defense policy, ensures economic growth and is active in addressing the issues of the refugee crisis. But perhaps not one that imposes new regulations on allergens that requires food menus to be changed everywhere. When that happens, it creates the feeling that the wrong priorities are being set.

If we Europeans are not in a state to be able to solve the refugee crisis ourselves, if we only depend on Plan B with Turkey - then that is not simply an impression, it is the truth. But Europe cannot be susceptible to blackmail or be weak. I am, in any case, not in favor of having a deal with Turkey at any price.

We Europeans. We need to show the necessary strength together.

I am aware of the responsibility I am taking on as the chancellor. Things have developed very quickly for me in recent years, but they didn't happen from one day to the next. I have more than six years of experience in government. I took the decision to run as a candidate very seriously. In May, I decided to change the Austrian People's Party and to start a broad-based movement aimed at changing this country for the better.