Karoline Edtstadler

Karoline Stephanie Edtstadler (; born 28 March 1981) is an Austrian lawyer and politician who serves as the Governor of Salzburg state since 2 July 2025, the second woman in this position and the first for the ÖVP. Previously, she served as minister for the EU and the constitution at the Austrian Chancellery in the federal governments of Chancellors Sebastian Kurz, Alexander Schallenberg and Karl Nehammer between 2020 and 2025. A member of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), she previously served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2019 until 2020 and as State Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior from 2017 to 2019.

Early life and career Edtstadler is the daughter of former director of the Salzburg state provincial parliament Karl W. Edtstadler, and was raised in Elixhausen in the Salzburg-Umgebung district.

In 2010, Edtstadler passed relatively heavy sentences on two upstanding brothers, who had been charged with injuring a police officer at a demonstration against the asylum policy of minister of the interior Maria Fekter. The higher regional court of Linz reversed the judgements in significant points, as even the public prosecutor considered the sentences to be too heavy. The president of the regional court Hans Rathgeb praised Edtstadler's work at the court: "She was a very goal-oriented and experienced judge".

Member of the European Parliament, 2019–2020 In the 2019 European Parliament election, Edtstadler was number two on her party's list, following Othmar Karas. As Member of the European Parliament, she served on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and on the Subcommittee on Human Rights. Within the centre-right European People's Party Group (EPP), she led the ÖVP delegation.

Return to national politics Since 2020, Edtstadler has been serving as minister for the EU and the Constitution at the Austrian Chancellery in the government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. In addition, she has been co-chairing of the EPP European Affairs Ministers Meeting (alongside Helen McEntee), which gathers the centre-right EPP ministers ahead of meetings of the General Affairs Council (GAC).

In 2022, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Edtstadler to serve on his inaugural Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Leadership Panel.

Salzburg state politics On 28 June 2025, she was elected as new Salzburg state ÖVP party leader. On 2 July 2025, she was elected as new Governor of Salzburg state by the Landtag of Salzburg, following the retirement of Governor Wilfried Haslauer Junior. She previously planned to open a law firm after exiting the Austrian federal government in March 2025, but the planned successor of Haslauer as Governor of Salzburg, Stefan Schnöll, waived the governorship due to private reasons. The ÖVP’s coalition partner in Salzburg, the FPÖ, voted for Edtstadler as the new Governor. The opposition SPÖ also voted for her. Landtag members of the Green Party and the Communist Party Plus voted against her.

Personal life Edtstadler has a son and lives in Salzburg.