{"id":108396,"date":"2024-09-29T16:36:50","date_gmt":"2024-09-29T09:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=108396"},"modified":"2024-09-29T16:36:50","modified_gmt":"2024-09-29T09:36:50","slug":"a-far-right-party-with-nazi-roots-is-on-the-brink-of-power-in-austria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=108396","title":{"rendered":"A far right party with Nazi roots is on the brink of power in Austria"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"\">Politics in a central European country of just 10 million people might not seem consequential. But that\u2019s not the case in Austria, where there\u2019s a good chance its election Sunday will be won by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/austrians-protest-far-right-freedom-party-joins-government-n830671\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a far-right, pro-Russia party<\/a> that was founded by former Nazis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">A win for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/austria-s-norbert-hofer-far-right-freedom-party-heads-polls-n691201\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Freedom Party, or FP\u00d6,<\/a> would not just have historical connotations \u2014 Austria was the birthplace of Adolf Hitler \u2014 it could tilt the balance of power between Russia and the West.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Though small, Austria has for centuries enjoyed outsized influence as a crossroads at the heart of Europe. Its neutral status, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/putin-warns-russia-war-west-ukraine-long-range-missiles-biden-starmer-rcna170980\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">neither officially allied with NATO nor Russia<\/a>, means that for centuries it has served as an arena for politicians, diplomats and spies trying to tilt the geopolitical balance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">So it\u2019s not just that the FP\u00d6 is criticized by opponents as xenophobic and racist, some Western onlookers are also alarmed by its staunch opposition to supporting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/ukraine-drone-attack-russia-ammo-depot-toropets-tver-blasts-quake-fire-rcna171601\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ukraine against Moscow<\/a>. Though Austria is a member of the European Union, its far-right party leading the polls has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/austria-s-tilt-toward-russia-worries-intelligence-experts-n870711\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">strong links with Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a> \u2014 the bloc\u2019s arch nemesis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The FPO is seeking to form \u201can axis of far right-wing actors in the European Union,\u201d according to Peter Filzmaier, a professor at Austria\u2019s Kerms and Gratz universities, and one of the country\u2019s top political commentators. Even if the party fails to form a coalition government \u2014 all other major groups have refused to work with them \u2014 this would be a \u201csymbolic\u201d victory for the movement, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The FP\u00d6 is led by Herbert Kickl, 55, a wiry, acerbic provocateur in designer glasses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">He has been branded as \u201cVolkskanzler\u201d or \u201cPeople\u2019s Chancellor,\u201d by his party, a term most associated with the Nazis who used it to describe Hitler. Indeed the FP\u00d6 was founded in the 1950s by former members of Hiter\u2019s paramilitary group the SS, although Kickl and his supporters reject the modern-day comparison.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Whatever the intention, these populist overtones will be familiar to American politics, or indeed that of Europe and much of the democratic world.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"styles_inlineImage__yAWZ0 styles_medium__OMa6x\"><picture class=\"styles_image__1qciH\" data-testid=\"picture\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2024-09\/240927-herbert-kickl-rally-wc-1413-b5c3aa.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2024-09\/240927-herbert-kickl-rally-wc-1413-b5c3aa.jpg 1x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2024-09\/240927-herbert-kickl-rally-wc-1413-b5c3aa.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2024-09\/240927-herbert-kickl-rally-wc-1413-b5c3aa.jpg 1x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2024-09\/240927-herbert-kickl-rally-wc-1413-b5c3aa.jpg\" alt=\"General elections in Austria will take place on September 29, 2024.\" height=\"1667\" width=\"2500\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"caption styles_caption__Pe5JC\" data-testid=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption__container\" data-testid=\"caption__container\">The chairman and top candidate of the Freedom Party of Austria Herbert Kickl waves to supporters after kicking off his party&#8217;s electoral campaign on September 7, 2024 in Graz, Austria.<\/span><span class=\"caption__source\" data-testid=\"caption__source\">Alex Halada \/ AFP via Getty Images file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"\">Kickl has capitalized on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/eu-pledges-crackdown-brutal-migrant-smuggling-visit-italian-island-rcna105539\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Europe\u2019s migration crisis<\/a>, in which hundreds of thousands of people have fled war, poverty and natural disasters in the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. Immigrants have become a lightning rod for frustrations supercharged by a continent-wide inflation and cost-of-living crisis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Kickl\u2019s vision is to build\u00a0 \u201cFortress Austria\u201d and \u201cFortress Europe,\u201d as he put it during a debate on Austrian public television Thursday night.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">That would involve a dramatic overhaul of Austria\u2019s immigration system, registering all new arrivals and detaining them in specialist facilities. The party is also proposing to introduce \u201cremigration\u201d of \u201cunwanted strangers\u201d \u2014 deporting migrants to their country of origin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">It\u2019s all in the service of returning the \u201ccultural identity and social peace of our homeland,\u201d the FP\u00d6\u2019s manifesto says, calling for Austria to be a place of \u201chomogeneity\u201d rather than \u201cdiversity.\u201d During Thursday\u2019s debate, Kickl portrayed immigration as \u201ca gigantic security issue, because we\u2019re bringing Islamisation into the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">This has all caused widespread horror across the political spectrum, with opponents calling these policies xenophobic, racist and Islamophobic. Jewish commentators also accuse the party of using antisemitic tropes, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/opinion\/article-821773\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an opinion piece in the Jerusalem Post on Thursday<\/a> labeling Kickl a \u201cneo-Nazi\u201d who \u201cperforms acrobatic feats\u201d to dodge Austria\u2019s strict laws against antisemitism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Austria\u2019s incumbent leader, Karl Nehammer, of the rival conservative Austrian People\u2019s Party, has called Kickl a \u201cright-wing extremist.\u201d And Andreas Babler, leader of the left-wing Social Democratic Party, told Kickl during a TV debate last week that \u201cI think you are extremely dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"styles_inlineImage__yAWZ0 styles_medium__OMa6x\"><picture class=\"styles_image__1qciH\" data-testid=\"picture\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2024-09\/240927-kickl-debate-wc-1416-8f8f77.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2024-09\/240927-kickl-debate-wc-1416-8f8f77.jpg 1x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2024-09\/240927-kickl-debate-wc-1416-8f8f77.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2024-09\/240927-kickl-debate-wc-1416-8f8f77.jpg 1x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2024-09\/240927-kickl-debate-wc-1416-8f8f77.jpg\" alt=\"General elections in Austria will take place on September 29, 2024. \" height=\"1678\" width=\"2500\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"caption styles_caption__Pe5JC\" data-testid=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption__container\" data-testid=\"caption__container\">Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and chairman of the Freedom Party of Austria Herbert Kickl meet during a televized debate in Vienna, Austria on September 23, 2024. <\/span><span class=\"caption__source\" data-testid=\"caption__source\">Joe Klamar \/ AFP &#8211; Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"\">The FP\u00d6 did not respond to NBC News\u2019 request for an interview or comment in response to these criticisms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">For Gabriela Bacher, an Austrian-American film producer and political campaigner, there are latent parallels between her homeland and former American President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cAfter four years of Trump and MAGAism,\u201d she told NBC News, \u201cI came back here and realized it\u2019s actually no better. It\u2019s the same right-wing, populist attempt of trying to rattle people with fear mongering and hate and hate speech.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">She sees the FP\u00d6 as wanting nothing less than \u201ca restructuring of the Austrian Republic,\u201d and using \u201cvery fascist language\u201d reminiscent of the \u201c1920s and 30s\u201d \u2014 when the Nazis rose to power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Others worry the FP\u00d6\u2019s influence could extend far beyond its own borders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">It has for years been sympathetic toward Russia, not just calling for an end to Europe\u2019s support for Ukraine but also advocating an end to the sanctions placed on Russia over its war. In 2016, party leader Heinz-Christian Strache signed a formal \u201ccooperation pact\u201d with Putin\u2019s United Russia party. And a year later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/putin-dances-austrian-minister-s-wedding-setting-alarm-bells-european-n901951\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">its appointed foreign minister, Karin Kneissl, danced with Putin<\/a> at her wedding.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">It has been a junior coalition partner before, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/conservative-people-s-party-surges-austria-vote-far-right-party-n1060176\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">but crashed out in 2019<\/a> after Strache was secretly recorded offering to fix government contracts with a woman posing as the relative of a Russian oligarch.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">A year earlier, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/austria-s-tilt-toward-russia-worries-intelligence-experts-n870711\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NBC News went to the Austrian capital Vienna<\/a> and spoke with security experts who were alarmed at the party\u2019s Putin ties. These analysts openly worried that the FP\u00d6\u2019s presence in a E.U. government could see Western secrets leaked to Moscow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">This time, an FP\u00d6-led Austria could form a Ukraine-skeptical bloc with like minded neighbors, Slovakia and Hungary, the latter led by Trump ally Victor Orban, who proudly calls his nation an \u201cilliberal democracy.\u201d Its election would be the latest chapter in a rightward lurch across Europe, with voters rejecting mainstream centrists not just over immigration and the economy, but the environment and so-called \u201cculture war\u201d issues, too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The FP\u00d6\u2019s return is far from certain, currently polling at 27%, narrowly ahead of the ruling Austrian People\u2019s Party on 25% and the Social Democratic Party of Austria on 21%, according to European polling aggregator PolitPro. A coalition is almost certain \u2014\u00a0 not an easy task when the FP\u00d6 is so vilified by opponents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Bacher, the film producer, is part of an organization called \u201cA Promise for the Republic,\u201d which is trying to make that even harder, petitioning Austrian politicians to rule out collaborating.<\/p>\n<p class=\"endmark\">\u201cThis is really the republic that is at stake here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/far-right-party-nazi-roots-brink-power-austria-rcna172984\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Politics in a central European country of just 10 million people might not seem consequential. But that\u2019s not the case in Austria, where there\u2019s a good chance its election Sunday &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=108396\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}