Sebastian Kurz Quotes

I would support a devolution of power out of Washington for education, health care, transportation.

Europe must act quickly where it's needed and must, once and for all, let member states handle what is their exclusive domain.

The Treaty of Lisbon gave the European parliament a stronger role as co-legislator and the European Council its own president. Furthermore, the treaty introduced checks on subsidiarity - the concept that decisions should be taken as close as possible to the citizens - in an effort to cut back on unnecessary rules and regulations.

I think it is time for a radical federalism in this country, where people trust innovation coming from the local level and ramp that up.

I have been supporting the European Union, but we are still a work in progress. We have to become more of a United States of Europe. We should talk about electing a president of the E.U., rather than having one selected from the heads of government.

What is good for Alaska is good for the country. Transferring power from the federal government to the states provides opportunity to all states, not just Alaska.

Throughout my political career, I've believed in the concept of home rule. Some call it local control. Whichever phrase you use, the concept is the same - the best decisions are those made closest to those who will be impacted by the decisions.

I happen to be one who believes very strongly that state and local governments have their proper roles.

Many people secretly wish that every state be completely independent and that as soon as our public debts are liquidated that Congress shall be no more.

Central government's such as Canada's have become too small to deal with the big global issues, yet they remain too large and distant to deal with problems of local control.

States should have enormous input into the decisions that affect them.

… state authority should not be needlessly usurped by a centralized government. But I also believe that an obligation rests with the national government to see that the citizens of every state are treated equally.

13 years after Indonesia began devolving power from the federal government to hundreds of sub provincial units, the link between local and national political interests have become extremely tenuous… although locally elected politicians may be delivering things that people want in their own back yards, they are not, collectively meeting the nation’s needs.

In the space of just 18 months from 1999 to 2001, one of the world’s most centralized nations [Indonesia] burst apart to become one of its most decentralized.

I think that the more we, as a state, yield and cede decisions to the federal government, the lesser we'll be for it as a state.

In my eight years as governor, I did everything I could to resist federal control of issues that belong to the states.

Even if it's a national issue, the federal government cannot provide all the answers.

Republicans believe that problems are best solved at the level closest to the people and that the nation's strength comes from the diversity of its people, not from an all-powerful central government.

States know better than the federal government how to allocate and manage resources to address the needs of their people.

Everyone from Silesians to Sicilians to Scots seems to want autonomy or independence. The British voted to leave the European Union, and hostility to the superstate is rising across the continent.

The Iraqi constitution is clear in two articles: one says that Iraq is united, and the second one prevents any legislation or acts that impact its unity even from the regional side.

Being independent caused us nothing but trouble. I do not want Chechnya to be independent from Russia.

Strengthening the system and spirit of cooperative federalism, my government is taking the states along to achieve national goals.

As the Eurozone takes steps towards closer fiscal and economic integration, and as the E.U. continues to develop, we need to be absolutely clear when it is most appropriate to take decisions at the national or local level, closer to the people affected, and in other cases when it is best to take action at the E.U. or global level.

We need a change of course in the European Union. The most important is the focus on the big questions and a European Union that steps back on the small questions.