Austrian president calls for all women to wear hijab to fight Islamophobia

President Alexander Van der Bellen said he believed in freedom of expression

The President of Austria has said that with Islamophobia on the rise,  there may come a day where all women will be asked to wear hijab in solidarity with those who observe it for religious purposes.

Addressing pupils at a local school, President Alexander Van der Bellen said freedom of expression was a fundamental right.  “It is every woman’s right to always dress how she wants, that is my opinion on the matter.”



The 73-year-old, who took office in January this year, was replying to an argument by a schoolgirl who said the ‘headscarf’ focused on women’s appearances than their work. He emphasised it was “not only Muslim women, all women can wear a headscarf.” Adding that if the “rampant Islamaphobia continues, there will come a day where we will ask all women to wear a headscarf – all – out of solidarity to those who do it for religious reasons.”

While the comments were made in March, video of the event surfaced online last week, following which the president’s office issued a press release, stating that Van der Bellen hoped Muslim representatives in Austria would make “clearer statements” to highlight that Islam could not permit atrocities, the Independent report.


“He also warned against ‘racism from the other side’, giving the example of a Muslim taxi driver refusing to take Orthodox Jews,” the newspaper quoted a statement. “This is absolutely unacceptable.”

The president, according to his office, believes that prohibitions could be allowed in select issues such as for a female judge – whose dress code may raise doubts for bias.



Austria's conversation on veils is not new. According to Reuters, the country's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Integration Sebastian Kurz is working on a draft law with Muna Duzdar, a junior minister from the Christian Conservative People’s Party's senior Social Democrat coalition partner who has an Arab family background and is Muslim. If passed by parliament, the nationwide ban would be stricter than laws in France, where only the full body veil is illegal, or Germany, where the highest court in 2015 restricted lawmakers’ scope to ban teachers from wearing the headscarf.