Austrians elected representatives to a new national assembly on Sunday. When the polling stations closed at 5 p.m., the far-right Freedom Party was poised to become the largest party in the country. – We have written history, there will be change in the country, said Michael Schnedlitz, general secretary of the FPÖ to Austrian radio ORF. The two parties that now govern the country in a coalition government, the Austrian People’s Party, ÖVP, and the Greens are both stepping back. The People’s Party gets one in four votes, while the Greens get 8 percent. Chancellor Karl Nehammer made a good figure during the flood that swept the country at the end of September, but it was not enough to turn the Austrians’ dissatisfaction with the current government. The Social Democrats, SPÖ, come third with 20 percent. In a survey conducted before the election, 6 out of 10 Austrians answered that they were dissatisfied with the current government. Restrictions during the corona pandemic are given as one of the reasons. Photo: Theresa Wey / AP Austria is flooded with asylum seekers Herbert Kickl will be the little man’s champion. He has advocated “remigration”. That is, sending immigrants back to where they came from. Asylum reception centers are to become deportation centers according to the FPÖ’s plan. At a public meeting in Graz, he compared Austria to a sinking ship. “If we let water in and only pump out a few litres, the ship will sink. I don’t want Austria to sink. We have to close the gaps and not let in any asylum seekers,” said the candidate for chancellor to supporters. In Vienna, 42 percent of the inhabitants have an immigrant background. Many of those who vote on the far right believe that refugees receive more social support than Austrian pensioners. In recent years, the cost of living in the country has gone up and people are struggling financially due to inflation. The party blames the poor economic development on immigration and the war in Ukraine. The FPÖ is accused of being both anti-Semitic and racist. ELECTION CAMPAIGN: It only became a large and right-wing nationalist party in the 1980s. Then the charismatic Jörg Haider was party leader. Photo: Gert Eggenberger / Ap From SS to Haider Party leader Herbert Kickl will adopt the term Volkskanzler. The chancellor has historical roots. The same term was used for another Austrian, Adolf Hitler, when he came to power in 1938. Long before Trump, Orban and Le Pen, the Austrians have a party that has put “Austria First”. They have appealed to voters with simple slogans about getting the immigrants out and closing the borders. After Hitler lost World War II, the country did not undergo a denazification. The FPÖ was formed by the former SS officer Anton Reinthaller in 1955. Although the party was founded by several Nazis, it was initially a liberal party. CHARISMATIC: Haider, also with Nazi sympathies, turned the party into a people’s party. Photo: Rudi Blaha / AP It only became a large and right-wing nationalist party in the 1980s. Then the charismatic Jörg Haider was party leader. Haider also had Nazi sympathies, but that did not prevent him from turning the FPÖ into a large people’s party. Although many then reacted to his saying that the Nazi government in 1938 had a better labor policy than the current Austrian government (1991). It was the fight against immigration that made the party great. Under Haider’s leadership, the FPÖ came into government together with the conservative ÖVP. In the 2000 election, the Freedom Party became the country’s second largest party after receiving 27 percent of the vote. Dancing with Putin The Freedom Party was in its infancy, in the 1950s, an anti-Kremlin party. But in modern times the party has cultivated close ties to Putin’s Russia. The party has sent congratulations to Putin on all his election victories. In 2018, the Austrian party signed a cooperation agreement with Putin’s United Russia party. There have also been close ties on a personal level. When then Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl got married in 2018, Vladimir Putin was one of the guests of honour. GUEST OF HONOR: When then Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl got married in 2018, Vladimir Putin was one of the guests of honour. Photo: Roland SCHLAGER / AFP The close ties became visible in 2019. Then the German media got hold of a surreptitiously filmed video. There we can see then party leader and vice chancellor Heins Christian Strache in a meeting with a Russian woman, in a luxury villa in Ibiza. The woman pretends to be the niece of a Russian oligarch. She says that she wants control over Austria’s biggest tabloid, Kronen Zeitung. She offers Strache positive news coverage of the party in the election campaign. In return, the vice chancellor offers the Russian access to lucrative government contracts. OLIGARK: The woman pretends to be the niece of a Russian oligarch. The woman wants control over Austria’s largest tabloid Kronen Zeitung. Photo: Screenshot / Spiegel/SUDDEUTSCHE After what is called the Ibiza affair, Strache had to resign and the FPÖ disappeared from the government. But that did not lead to the end of contact with Russia. Dissatisfaction with the war in Ukraine is one of the reasons why the party has grown in popularity. The Freedom Party became Austria’s largest party during this summer’s elections to the European Parliament. – New era in European politics An FPÖ government is causing concern in Brussels. The party has put forward a proposal that EU sanctions against Russia should be removed. – We are entering a new era in European politics, said Kickl. This summer he helped form Europe’s Patriots, a grouping within the European Parliament. At a formation meeting, he stood hand in hand with his neighbor to the east, Hungary’s Viktor Orban. Italian Lega and Spain’s Vox are also members. They are led by Jordan Bardella in the French National Front. All these parties are skeptical of the power that Brussels has over the member states. Kickl has called Ursula von der Leyen a warmonger and said that he and Orban can achieve “a peaceful solution to the war between Ukraine and Russia”. Although both Austria and Hungary are small countries, together with several like-minded countries, they can lead the EU in a new direction. A new Chancellor? Although the far right has received most of the Austrian votes, it does not mean that Kickl will become Chancellor, as he wants. This is because the party does not have an absolute majority and must get support from other parties. The most natural source of support is the centre-right Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), the leader of the party, the sitting chancellor Karl Nehammer has repeated that he does not want Kickl as chancellor. At the last election meeting, the chancellor said that Kickl is too radical. “We stand for centrist politics, and are against going too far. We are for stability and against chaos. We don’t live off problems, we solve them.” But unlike neighboring Germany, where the far-right party AfD is shut out of political cooperation, the FPÖ has been in government before. Both times together with the conservative ÖVP. There is therefore speculation as to whether the Conservatives will also this time enter into government cooperation with the far right. Especially if Kickl does not demand to be chancellor. It is expected that government negotiations could take several months. Published 29/09/2024, at 17.20 Updated 29/09/2024, at 18.15
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Founded by SS officers, now the party has become the largest in Austria – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
