section_path: Political career/Minister of the Interior
section_name: Minister of the Interior
paragraph_text: Minister of the Interior
  
  Nehammer was appointed minister of the interior in the second Kurz government, and was sworn in on 7 January. Under his leadership, the Austrian government filed charges in mid-2020 against a person who had confessed to spying for Turkey's secret service. He was one of three public crisis managers during the COVID-19 pandemic, with responsibility for the enforcement of lockdowns and restrictions. He is considered a strong supporter of Sebastian Kurz's refugee policy.
  
  Nehammer led the government response following the 2020 Vienna attack. He described the attacker as an "Islamist terrorist" and a sympathiser of the Islamic State, and admitted that intelligence services under his jurisdiction had failed to communicate information that could have prevented the attack. Nehammer's wife and children received police protection as a result of death threats received after the attack.