“State, please help!”: Letters from readers on September 7, 2026

The letters page ranges from arguments over “hybrid warfare” to complaints about Graz’s finances and skepticism toward a proposed state fund for pensions.

Harald Müller argues that there is no such thing as hybrid warfare in the strict sense. He says the term should instead describe a hybrid way of conducting conflict, using economic, criminal and military instruments simultaneously or in sequence. Austria, he writes, should strengthen and expand the tools available under its crisis security law so it can recognize broader threats and respond in a coordinated way.

Christian Stafflinger backs German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s recent statement: “We are not at war, but we are no longer at peace.” He points to what he calls a conspicuous rise in hybrid attacks on critical infrastructure and to findings concerning the failed attack on Leipzig airport. The situation, he writes, is alarming and must be named plainly.

Stafflinger also criticizes the AfD in Germany and the FPÖ in Austria, accusing them of helping obscure the seriousness of the situation while supporting closer cooperation and a return to dependence on Russian natural gas. He says it is even more dangerous that parts of Austria’s ÖVP and SPÖ could support the FPÖ as a majority partner.

On Graz’s newly reported budget freeze, Stephan Schickl writes sarcastically that the city’s financial predicament should have been entirely foreseeable. He says the political response amounts to blaming the previous city government and then asking the state for help. A separate letter calls Christian Stocker’s proposal to place €700 million a year into a state fund for 30 years “more than daring,” given governments’ record of spending more despite rising revenues.

“

We are not at war, but we are no longer at peace.