SPÖ Farmers' Association shifts east for historic 150th-anniversary conference
Neudörfl an der Leitha may be known for its handful of Heuriger wine taverns, but this deep-red market town is far better recognized as an industrial hub than an agricultural stronghold. Nevertheless, just days ago, this neighbor of Wiener Neustadt hosted the Federal Conference of the SPÖ Farmers' Association, the socialist party's rural wing.
Michael Schwarzlmüller (65), from Upper Austria, was unanimously re-elected with 100 percent of the vote. The Burgenland region is also now represented on the executive board by Michael Glauber from Sigless. The choice of Neudörfl as the conference venue was no accident.
First, the event was organized by a local: Martin Giefing, who not only serves as federal managing director of the SPÖ's Association of Municipal Representatives at the party's Vienna headquarters on Löwelstraße but also oversees the socialist farmers' division. Second, since the last conference was held in Upper Austria, this time the gathering was deliberately shifted east. And—hard as it may be to believe—the majority of delegates hail from Burgenland, where the SPÖ's rural base remains relatively strong.
A Home Game for Babler
The first to congratulate Schwarzlmüller were SPÖ federal party leader and Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler and federal managing director Klaus Seltenheim—the latter joining Neudörfl's mayor, Dieter Posch, in person at the Martinihof venue. Babler, who has long-standing political and personal ties to the Posch family, is a frequent visitor to Neudörfl. Most recently, the Martinihof hosted celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the founding congress of Austrian social democracy—an event attended by Babler but notably not by Burgenland's governor, Hans Peter Doskozil.
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