Gerhard Karner has been Federal Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Austria since 2021, being reconfirmed in the last Parliamentary elections in 2024. His political career started in the village of Texingtal, where he served as mayor for six years. From 2003 to 2020, Karner was a member of the Lower Austrian Provincial Parliament (Landtag) and served as the second Lower Austrian Provincial Parliament president from 2015 to 2021. He studied Business Administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Photo credits: © BKA/Andy Wenzel