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"Don't let the Nazis govern:" Far-right party takes power in Austria

AUT181217AK001VIENNA – A chant of "don't let the Nazis govern" rang through a crowd of several thousand people in Vienna earlier this week as the nation's president made official a development unthinkable just a few years ago – a far-right party once again holding the reins of government.

Despite the protests, President Alexander Van der Bellen swore in a coalition government comprised of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) and the far-right Freedom Party, (FPÖ) – a political party founded by former Nazis after World War Two.

With a seat at the table again after almost two decades afloat in political exile, the FPÖ plans to take advantage of warmer waters in the European Union for right-wing governments in order to push for nationalist and conservative policies.

Party officials say it's a sign of the times.

"There is a palpable spirit of optimism,” said FPÖ lawmaker Kurt Liechtenstein. “The abortive developments of the last decade, and the previous government’s conscious policy of ignoring the worries and fears of the people, simply had to propel us to power. It was just a question of time.”

Those fears were precipitated by the migrant crisis that engulfed Europe in 2015 and saw Austria take in an unprecedented number of refugees seeking asylum from the Middle East and elsewhere.

The FPÖ seized the opportunity to criticize how the government handled the situation, only adding fodder to the public's fervent disillusionment with the ruling coalition of the ÖVP and the Social Democrats – a marriage that had dominated Austrian politics since World War Two.

That coalition frayed last year after those parties' respective candidates failed to survive the first round of presidential elections, a race eventually won by Van der Bellen of Austria's Green Party. A string of internal disputes within the government ensued, triggering a snap election in October that put the ÖVP in first place and the FPÖ in third.

Even in such a contentious political environment, President Van der Bellen, who narrowly defeated an FPÖ candidate in the nation's presidential election, toed a diplomatic line after swearing in the new conservative government.

“Many are critical of the new government or even oppose it – I understand that," he said after the ceremony. "Differing opinions are a hallmark of democracy."

The FPÖ last entered government 17 years ago under the leadership of Jörg Haider, a firebrand leader who once praised the Nazi's employment strategies in Austria during World War Two.

Back then, tens of thousands of took to the streets in Vienna in protest of the right-wing government, forcing the new cabinet to travel through an underground tunnel to Vienna's Hofburg Palace for the inauguration in order to avoid a confrontation with demonstrators.

Austrians weren't the only ones that bucked the newly inaugurated conservative government: Several European Union member states at the time froze diplomatic relations with Austria in protest of the FPÖ coming to power.

This time around, however, no such action will be taken, said political analyst Stefan Sengl – member states learned the hard way that strong-arming right-wing governments can be counterproductive.

"The EU strategy to condemn Austria in 2000 flopped," he said. "Sanctions only increased public support for the ÖVP-FPÖ coalition.”

Especially now, at a time when the European Union is polarized between right-wing, nationalist governments in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, and European standard bearers in Germany and France, the EU would be smart to avoid isolating Austria, Sengl added.

Even so, the policy proposals of Austria's new government already suggest that the country is drifting the way of the bloc's more populist members.

The new government plans to enforce stricter rules for migrants, like reducing their cash benefits. Mirroring the stances of other populists across the Continent, FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache has claimed that Islam “has no place in Europe.”

And while Austria's new government officially boasts a pro-EU stance, the FPÖ has been known to tout Eurosceptic views: Last year, FPÖ presidential candidate Norbert Hofer called for Austria to follow the United Kingdom in holding a referendum to leave the bloc.

"If the answer to Brexit would be to make a centralized European Union, where the national parliaments are disempowered and where the union is governed like a state...we would have to hold a referendum in Austria," he said.

Some Austrians think such controversial views have been given new legitimacy now that the FPÖ is back in government.

"Sebastian Kurz made the conservative right socially acceptable again,” said Christopher Herndler, who works in multimedia in Vienna and a lifelong opponent of the FPÖ. "Everything happened at the right time for the FPÖ – Austrians are getting increasingly disillusioned with politics. We will wake up in 10 years to see what electing the FPÖ has really cost us."

The FPÖ has received several key posts in the new government, including the interior and defense ministries. It was also given the right to choose the new foreign minister, who will not be a FPÖ member but is expected to promote the party’s agenda. FPÖ lawmaker Liechtenstein says the party will use its new influence to endorse a "direct democracy approach" to governance.

“For us it’s important that no one should be able to dictate to our citizens what they have to do – not Brussels and not Vienna,” he said.

Such populist stances may prove difficult to reconcile with the coalition’s pledge to maintain Austria’s European credentials. But Liechtenstein contends that someone has to stand up to European elites – and the FPÖ is in the best position to do so.

"The EU is increasingly becoming a central state like the former USSR," he said. "This can only be remedied by an opposing force."

Photo: Dec. 18, 2017 - Vienna, Austria - The Federal President of Austria inaugurates the new Federal Government at the Presidential Chancellery.
Credit: Courtesy of Andy Wenzel/BKA 12/18/2017

Story/photo publish date: 12/21/17

A version of this story was published in The Washington Times.
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