Born on 5 January 1956 in Waidhofen an der Ybbs.

President of the National Council since 20 December 2018.

Political Career

2016 – 2017 Federal Minister of the Interior

2009 – 2016 Deputy Governor of Lower Austria 1998 – 2016 Member of Lower Austria’s Regional Government

1996 – 1998 Mayor of Waidhofen an der Ybbs

1992 – 1996 Member of the local government of Waidhofen an der Ybbs

1982 – 1992 Member of the municipal council of Waidhofen an der Ybbs

Dr. Gudrun Kugler is a Member of the Austrian Parliament. In October 2017, she was first elected to the national parliament, the so-called Nationalrat. Re-elected in 2019 she is now the human rights spokesperson as well as the spokesperson for WWII-exiled minorities for the parliamentary group of ÖVP. Furthermore she is member of the Austrian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE and chairs the Austrian bilateral parliamentary group with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Kugler majored in Law, Women's Studies, and Theological Studies on Marriage and the Family. She holds a PhD in International Law.

From 2001 to 2004 she worked as the director for World Youth Alliance - Europe (www.wya.net) in Brussels. From 2008 to 2017, she worked as an adjunct professor at the International Theological Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family (www.iti.ac.at).

Gudrun Kugler founded and accompanied a number of successful initiatives throughout her professional life: Kairos Consulting for Non Profit Initiatives, the Catholic online Dating Website www.kathtreff.org, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe www.intoleranceagainstchristians.eu, a political training course for young adults hosted by the Austrian think thank Dr. Karl-Kummer-Institute (www.kummer-institut.at) and several more.

Mrs. Kugler was a member of the FRP Advisory Panel of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency from 2010 to 2012 and was actively involved at the OSCE for civil society organization.

In 2015, she was successfully elected to Vienna's regional parliament by preferential votes, where she focused on European and International Affairs, Human Rights, and Integration of Refugees until her election into the national parliament in 2017.

Gudrun Kugler has published several reports, articles, and books, including "Europa der Grundrechte?," "Helden der Menschenwürde," "Entdeckung der Freundschaft," "Exiting a Dead End Road. A GPS for Christians in Public Discourse," and "Niemand ist eine Insel. Wie man den Partner fürs Leben findet.” For her dissertation Gudrun Kugler was distinguished with the Leopold-Kunschak-Award. Her work for WYA was recognized by the foundation “Ja zum Leben.“ For her commitment to uphold the right to freedom of religion she received the Saint “Thomas More Religious Freedom Advocacy Award” by the International Catholic Legislators Network (ICLN). Gudrun Kugler is married and has four children.

02/12/2008 - 31/08/2014 Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology

01/03/2007 - 01/07/2008 Minister for Women, Media and Public Services

11/01/2007 - 28/02/2007 Minister without Portfolio

2000 - 2007 and 2008 Secretary General of the Austria Social Democratic Party (SPÖ)

2018: Member of the Task Force on Subsidiarity, Proportionality and "Doing Less More Efficiently" of the European Union State Secretary at the Federal Chancellery (2007-2008),

State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance (2008-2012) and at the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (2012-2013),

Secretary General of the Austrian Peoples Party (2003-2007).