Austrian Inquiry Criticizes Billions in NGO Subsidies

An Austrian parliamentary committee of inquiry has published a report on the funding of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), finding that the government provided around 7.7 billion euro to selected associations and organizations between 2023 and 2025.

The report highlighted non-transparent allocation of subsidies, multiple funding of some groups and a lack of independent evaluations of their effectiveness. Auditors also criticised shortcomings in the government's transparency portal, which they said make it impossible to obtain a full overview of state payments.

Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) faction leader Christoph Steiner described the situation as a "system of wasting taxpayers' money". Together with FPÖ Secretary-General Michael Schnedlitz, he accused the government of "multiple funding, non-transparency and obfuscation".

The coalition parties in parliament rejected the accusations, saying no fundamental misconduct had taken place. The Alliance for Non-Profit Organizations also dismissed the criticism. Its head, Stefan Wallner, said that co-financing of NGOs by several ministries is normal practice and should not be confused with double funding.

(diepresse, bak)