Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
by Ilya Maximov
[Regnum] School protests have spread to another European country: Austria. There, the spur was a ban on hijabs and traditional Muslim head coverings for girls under 14 in schools, which came into effect at the start of the school year.
It was approved by parliament in December 2025, came into force on 1 September 2026 and applies to public and private educational institutions.
The law was supported by the ruling coalition of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), and the liberal NEOS, as well as the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ). Only the Greens opposed it.
The current ban is the second attempt to legally restrict the wearing of headscarves in Austrian schools. In 2019, the ÖVP-FPÖ coalition introduced a similar rule for girls under 10.
However, the Constitutional Court overturned it just over a year later, arguing that the decision, which targeted Muslims exclusively, contradicted the principle of religious neutrality of the state. The new law was drafted with this in mind, but it, too, has already been challenged; the Constitutional Court's verdict is expected in the first half of 2027.
Supporters of the law justify its necessity by protecting children from religious coercion. Minister for Europe, Integration, and Family Affairs Claudia Bauer called the headscarf "a symbol of oppression and a means of controlling girls from early childhood."
"Girls in Austria must grow up free, open, and independent," she emphasized.
Neos MP Yannick Shetty stated, "This isn't about restricting freedom, but rather protecting the freedom of girls under 14. A headscarf isn't just clothing. For minors, it serves to shield girls from the male gaze. It sexualizes girls."
Commenting on the law's passage, FPÖ spokesperson Richarda Berger remarked, "Political Islam has no place in Austria, much less in our schools." However, as subsequent events revealed, this statement was more of an attempt to pass off wishful thinking as reality.
Despite sanctions, many continue to wear prohibited headwear. The response to violations is as follows: if necessary, teachers remind the student of the ban; if the violation is repeated, a conversation with the parents follows; then a summons to the educational directorate (equivalent to the Department of Education); in extreme cases, a complaint is filed with the administrative authority, which can impose a fine of 150 to 800 euros, even multiple times.
The official Islamic Religious Community of Austria (IGGÖ) strongly condemned the new restriction. "We believe it unfairly restricts the fundamental right to freedom of religion and disproportionately affects Muslim girls," said IGGÖ spokesperson Carla Amina Baghajati.
| One would think it only affects Moslem girls, but we’ve seen in the banlieues that unbeliever girls have taken to wearing the hijab in the hope that it will protect them from being harassed — and worse — by Eve-teasing Moslem males of all ages. |
The community supports the lawsuits filed by schoolgirls and their families, who believe their rights have been violated. At the same time, the Islamic Religious Community of Upper Austria, in response to a query from the newspaper Mein Bezirk, emphasized that wearing head coverings for children is not obligatory in Islam.
However, the protesters are unconcerned about such clarifications. The ban has met with significant resistance.
Since the start of the school year, there have been over 250 summonses to education directorates across the country, with 87 cases resulting in the issuance of fines for repeat violations. The majority of these cases were in Vienna: 210 summonses and 53 complaints.
Very quickly, local rallies and online outrage escalated to street protests in major cities. "School strikes" took place in Vienna, Graz, Innsbruck, Linz, and Bregenz.
According to organizers, approximately three thousand people took to the streets in the capital. The rally began at Human Rights Square, from where the column moved through the central districts, causing traffic disruptions.
The massive turnout is unsurprising:
| …three thousand is not at all massive. 300,000 is in the massive range… |
four out of ten teenagers in the Austrian capital are Muslim, reports Salzburg 24. However, not all participants were schoolchildren—there were plenty of adult opponents of the initiative, including both relatives of the students and activists from various left-wing organizations.
Participants demanded the repeal of the new rule, while also speaking out against "racism and sexism." Chants included: " Hands off girls' heads," "Racist, sexist, disgusting: the ban must be lifted," and "Hair scarf or not—only we decide! "
Of course, such statements are loud, making them ideal for mobilizing an audience. In modern leftist rhetoric, the concept of "racism" is often associated with Islamophobia.
But this "expanded" understanding only blurs the meaning of the term. It's not an argument, but a deliberate attempt to deflect the discussion with a sweeping accusation. Sexism in this context is even more absurd, since the law doesn't require girls to wear anything, it merely prohibits one item of clothing.
The slogan "My body, my choice," which was heard at the demonstrations, is also a form of mass consciousness manipulation. It has nothing to do with the body at all; it's simply a matter of rules of conduct within the walls of an educational institution.
Even without the new law, schools regulate students' appearance. They prohibit wearing overly revealing or provocative clothing or displaying radical symbols, but no one objects to this.
Interestingly, the organizers of the protests included youth organizations of the Social Democrats (SPÖ), along with other left-wing groups whose names speak for themselves—the "Socialist Youth" and the "Red Falcons." Speakers called for further protests to repeal the law.
| In other words, the usual Red-Green (Socialist/Communist-Moslem) alliance. No surprise there. |
The irony is that SPÖ members themselves voted for this ban in parliament. It turns out that party members are voting for the initiative, while its youth wing is leading people out onto the streets against the same proposal.
| Ignorant, unsophisticated young people like communism because they hope to get according to their wants without putting in work. Ugh. Once upon a time the attraction was idealistic, but with a century of history to look back on, those who want it now have no excuse. |
However, everyone has long since become accustomed to the duplicity of European politicians, but what is truly curious is the participation of the indigenous population in the protests.
Among the participants, for example, were local girls who don't wear headscarves themselves but consider the new rule unfair. A 17-year-old schoolgirl shared a paradoxical thought in an interview with Der Standard: "You can't stop coercion with more coercion."
| Showing her ignorance. That’s actually the only way. |
This speaks volumes about the results of the policy of inclusiveness, as a result of which it was not the newcomers who became Europeanized, but the Europeans who became Islamized, even though they believe they are defending democracy rather than fundamentalism.
Migrants were supposed to gradually adopt European norms, language, and secular rules, and the indigenous population was supposed to help them with this, while maintaining their own values.
But in reality, it turned out that some Europeans did not so much help migrants integrate as they themselves sided with a tradition that Muslim institutions do not even consider obligatory for children.
Considering that this is far from the only such case, and that Zoomers protesting in France are already singing songs glorifying Islamists, the trend is obvious, and it does not bode well for Europeans.
Minister Bauer criticized the demonstrations. "Freedom of expression is a great blessing, but it's extremely disturbing that some organizations are pressuring girls to protest against their own freedom," she said.
There are also ordinary Austrians who support parliament's decision, but many are afraid to speak out openly for fear of appearing "insufficiently tolerant." "My wife is also from abroad. But I say: if someone wants to close down, let them do it in countries where it's customary," a chestnut seller from Linz told Kronen Zeitung.
One thing is clear: the ban not only failed to solve the problem of the gradual Islamization of Austrian schools, but created a new one. Instead of dialogue on girls' rights, religious freedom, and the integration of migrants, the country has experienced protests that have divided society.
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