The Austrian Freedom Party’s victory in this week’s election may be a harbinger of the death throes of European centrism, says Ralph Schoellhammer in the Telegraph – and opposition to mass immigration and Covid lockdowns were key drivers. Here’s an excerpt.
The global wave of Right-wing populism first emerged in Austria, almost precisely 32 years ago. In 1992, the then-leader of the hard-Right Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) Jörg Haider initiated a public referendum called Österreich zuerst, or Austria First. Haider and his party demanded an end to mass immigration, more money for police and law enforcement, and a cap on non-German speaking pupils in state schools.
Whether consciously or unconsciously, Right-wing populists from Trump to Farage have been following in Haider’s footsteps – but he was ahead of them by at least two decades. After being killed in a car crash in 2008, Mr Haider could not witness the ultimate triumph of his former party, which came in first with 28.8% of the vote in yesterday’s federal elections.
For 80 years, every Austrian election was either won by the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) or the Social Democrats (SPÖ); since 1945 for more than half the time they have governed together, in what has become known as a Grand Coalition. They might end up governing together yet again, but it would be a coalition of the losers, with nothing grand about it.
Gone are the days where those two parties could monopolise almost 70% of the vote, and yesterday’s results of 26.3% for the ÖVP and 21.1% for the SPÖ are disasters of historical proportions.
As expected, the triumph of the FPÖ immediately led to the Freedom Party being maligned as Nazis and Putin stooges. But this entirely ignores why voters moved to the Right in such huge numbers. …
The FPÖ’s success can be attributed to three main factors. Firstly, their strong stance on migration. As a nationalist party unafraid to discuss “remigration”, it has always had substantial support from those favouring closed borders over open ones.
Secondly, the Covid policies of the ruling Conservative-Green coalition, which have been some of the strictest in Europe. Under Herbert Kickl’s leadership, the FPÖ positioned itself as a vocal critic of these policies, further fuelled by the Government’s harsh rhetoric about an “epidemic of the unvaccinated” and the near-implementation of a compulsory federal vaccine mandate.
Even though Covid is now a distant memory for many, a segment of the population ardently opposed to those policies now supports the FPÖ. Lastly, voter mobilisation played a crucial role. With a voter turnout nearing 80%, it appears that many former non-voters were drawn to the FPÖ.
Additionally, a growing sense of pessimism, with six out of 10 Austrians dissatisfied with the country’s direction, contributed to its rise.
Worth reading in full.
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One of many side effects of politicising health issues, perhaps. Ignorance and misunderstanding being root causes.
Yes, it’s true. More countries are heading in the right direction, both figuratively and politically;
”Hungary has built a fence and does not allow social (welfare) tourists to enter Europe unchecked. Hungary protects Germany and Austria from further chaos. So, what does the conglomerate of mentally ill lawbreakers in Brussels do in response? It obliges Hungary to pay a massive fine. These previous sentences were delivered by Austrian politician and commentator Gerald Grosz in a statement, but they describe the EU’s mishandling of the problem of illegal immigration so succinctly and accurately that any sane patriot could have said them. Today, the situation has become so much better that more and more people dare to take on their attitude in public, agreeing with the Hungarian position all over Europe.
It is no coincidence that the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) won a historic victory on Sunday in the election whose central theme was illegal migration. Our neighbor has seen unbearable conditions develop in the big cities, for example, more than half of the students in Viennese schools do not know the German language. Whoever forms a government must radically change the current migrant policy, otherwise serious social conflicts may break out, the consequences of which are unforeseeable.
The situation is similar in several EU member states. In the Czech Republic, Andrej Babiš’s party, ANO, won the Senate election by a landslide. Although their strengthening does not bring an immediate change in the Czech migrant policy, it is still a very important development. It is no coincidence that Viktor Orbán concluded his congratulations by saying, “They can tremble in Brussels, the Patriots are coming.”
https://rmx.news/article/patriots-are-advancing-across-europe/
The narrative of the global elite, with its promotion of multiculturalism, wokism, leftism will hopefully trigger a self-preservation defense mechanism in the population.
I remember Vienna from the 80’s. It was a chocolate-box image of affluence, peace and safety. Apparently it’s not like that any more. I suppose some Austrians have started asking the question why.
Killed in a car crash in 2008? That’s a really cute way to word it. Crashed his car against an obstacle on the way back from a Cocaine-fuelled orgy at a certain Gay club is more realistic description. Not quite the kind of political leader we ought to be looking forward (or back) to.
The FPÖ has been part of Austrian governments from 1983 – 1987, 2000 – 2007 and 2017 – 2019. It’s absolutely nothing but another Austrian establishment party.
Is it the cocaine, the gay, or the orgy you object to in a leader?
Get yourself a Haider-T-Shirt if you like. It’s not illegal.
I don’t want a Haider t-shirt (I know nothing about him and don’t want to know) but I am interested in an answer to Arum’s question.
That’s not a question but an attempt to put words in my mouth which differ from the statement I made. Haider (and the FPÖ in general) has a track record of accomplishing exactly nothing when in office and the FPÖ is – in Austria – rightfully regarded as nothing but another corrupt establishment party. Further, he also wasn’t “killed in a car crash” but killed himself (and luckily, no one else) when he lost control of his car while driving under influence. Considering why he was driving under influence, one can also conjecture that he – like Geert Wilders, BTW – mainly objected to Muslim immigration because he didn’t believe this would be beneficial to certain spare-time activities which were very dear to him.
If you think being sex-obsessed and a reckless and irresponsible law breaker who effected his own untimely demise because of this is just the kind of material our political leaders should be made of, then, I suggest to vote for such types whenever the opportunity arises. I must, however, caution you against expecting anything from that save saddling yourself with their lifestyle bills I certainly don’t want to pay.
What political leaders do in their spare time is very low on my list of priorities
What people do in their so-called spare time is a function of what kind of person they are and I absolutely wouldn’t be surprised if the claim that’s implied in your statement, namely, character doesn’t exist, just inherently featureless people who turn into whatever they’re dressing up at the moment once they did this, is also a Marxist ‘intellectual innovation’.
But there’s really no issue here:Vote Keir. And be grateful for whatever befalls you.
I tend to think most people attracted to politics are probably somewhat questionable
There is no “Right wing” only “Far Right”. Populism – what the people want and vote for has replaced democracy which is what the Establishment want for which the people are required to vote.
In next door Germany, the AfD (Far Right) is being blocked from Parliamentary committees (like Reform) despite its high level of electoral support, and harassed in other ways as ‘a threat to democracy’.
The problem with the headline, Centrism (aka Statism rooted in Socialism/Fascism hybrid) holds all the levers of power and has the monopoly on violence.
Death throes of a mortally wounded beast is when it is at its most dangerous… and has nothing to lose.
I don’t suppose those ‘unclean’ unvaccinated persons from 2021/2022 will have forgotten their treatment by the Austrian State at that time. Time for payback hopefully.
You can always tell an article is propaganda as soon as the terms “Far right” and “Populism” appear.
The global wave of Right-wing populism … Whether consciously or unconsciously, Right-wing populists from Trump to Farage have been following in Haider’s footsteps …
Populism simply means doing something that a majority appreciate: is there something wrong with that and is it not something every politician hopes to achieve?
And the terms right-wing or far right are just a short step away from Nazi, or a step beyond for some people.
I would refer to German AfD politics (my knowledge of Austrian politics is scant) as being centrist, or what would have been called conservative a few decades ago. Today’s European politics are all what I would term “Far left”, adhering to rather extreme ideological viewpoints, including publishing such propaganda pieces as this one!