A Strong Warning For Change

By Georg Spiegelfeld-Schneeburg

Dr. Georg Spiegelfeld-Schneeburg is a former Member of the Austrian Federal Council (Bundesrat), serving from 2003 - 2010, and a current businessman working in real estate. Previously, he was Chairman of the center-right Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) in Schlüßlberg, Chairman of the Austrian Economic Association (ÖWB) in Grieskirchen, and Chairman of the Economic Association of Upper Austria in Grieskirchen. He received his Doctor of Law from the University of Salzburg.

A sigh of relief could be heard amongst Europeanists, when independent Green Party candidate Alexander Van der Bellen was declared the winner of the Austrian Presidential election this week. Yet grunts of discontentment could also be heard amongst the growing populist and nationalist voters across the continent, with far-right candidate Norbert Hofer losing by a slim margin. To gauge reaction on the ground, The Cipher Brief spoke with Georg Spiegelfeld-Schneeburg, a former center-right member of Austria’s Federal Council (Bundesrat) who served from 2003 – 2010.

The Cipher Brief: Far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) presidential candidate Norbert Hofer narrowly lost the election on Monday, being defeated by Green Party candidate Alexander Van der Bellen. What is your reaction? Are you surprised the race was so close?

“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief in terms of the number of articles published by formers.” —Sept. 2018, Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 62

Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Subscriber+

Categorized as:InternationalTagged with:

Related Articles

How Safe Would We Be Without Section 702?

SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW — A provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that has generated controversy around fears of the potential for abuse has proven to be crucial […] More

Search

Close