Austrian Elections & Politics 4.0

[DavidB.]

The Austrian government has refused to stand with the UK, the U.S., Australia, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Canada, Poland and a lot of other countries by not expelling one or more Russian diplomats. A coordinated EU response is the best signal, so this is disappointing. One of the clear disadvantages of the FPÖ in government.

This isn't the FPÖ's "fault," per se. The Austrian government's official position is that due to being neutral they won't cut off ties.

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https://www.thelocal.at/20180327/neutral-austria-wont-expel-russian-diplomats

If I were there, I'd want the Russian delegates kicked out, but I can see why they won't.

Nobody is asking them to cut off ties altogether. And countries like Finland and Sweden are also officially neutral and outside NATO, yet they did participate in this action. So this was a conscious political decision, probably influenced by the fact that the pro-Kremlin FPÖ is not only in government but actually controls the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

[DavidB.]

How did you vote, Tender? SPÖ again?

[DavidB.]

Even better than I expected. G-d I love this country.

[DavidB.]

Annoyed with all the idiots voting for the FPS. Why would you risk it?

[DavidB.]

So I guess Stronach's voters mostly went to the ÖVP (and, less so, FPÖ/FPS and perhaps even NEOS), while the SPÖ gained votes from the Greens but lost them to ÖVP and NEOS, and NEOS won votes from the Greens, the SPÖ and Stronach, probably in that order. What % of the NEOS votes would you expect to come from which parties?

[DavidB.]

It is unfortunate that "Soros" is indeed a huge dogwhistle and that the Hungarian government clearly uses him like that as well, but judging by the article in Der Standard, nothing what Gudenus said was actually untrue. The Open Society Foundation does appear to support and promote mass immigration. Not every criticism of Soros and the OSF is antisemitic (though it is very difficult to tell where the line is), and I think what Gudenus said falls well within acceptable boundaries.

It is also curious for this ÖVP MP to suggest that an MP not voice his own opinions, but instead slavishly follow the government in everything. Dualism, anyone?

[DavidB.]

Soros' "Open Society Foundation" strikes back at the FPÖ, attacking the party for spreading "Islamophobia" (especially when it comes to introducing bans on *mostly* Islamic clothing such as the Burqa and Niqab).

Amazing. The FPÖ don't get free PR like that every day!

[DavidB.]

The Salzburg coalition formation is a great example to use when convincing real right-wingers to vote FPÖ instead of ÖVP: vote ÖVP, get the Greens. Just wonderful.

Greetings from Niederösterreich.

[DavidB.]

Today, commemorations for the end of WW2 took place at the former Mauthausen Concentration Camp.

Missing: the FPÖ or their politicians. They were not invited or allowed to enter the Mauthausen complex by the Austrian Jewish Committe (which the FPÖ didn't like and complained about: "We want reconciliation with the Jewish community on the Holocaust. Disinviting us is the wrong thing to do").

In his speech, Oskar Deutsch (the president of the AJC), strongly attacked the FPÖ and their continued nazi-scandals over the past weeks and months, despite being in government now as a reason to continue excluding them from these events. A "commemoration with the FPÖ present here would be a shame".

Total frauds, this Austrian Jewish Committee, and dangerous ones at that. I'll side with Strache over such morons every day.

[DavidB.]

Deputy Chancellor HC Strache today made a very moving speech at the commemoration ceremony of Austria's liberation from the Nazis (May 8, 1945), stating in unequivocal terms that Nazism and the Shoah were horrific and cruel, and that antisemitism can never be tolerated.

[DavidB.]

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Very moving. The Dutch always "do" Commemoration Day on May 4th and stand in silence for two minutes at 8 PM. Since I was in Vienna on May 4th this year, I chose to do this at the Heldenplatz: the place where the nightmare for Viennese Jews, including my grandfather and his family, began, and where I can now stand in freedom to remember the victims of Nazi terror.

[DavidB.]

New scandal just went out...

http://m.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/FPOe-Politiker-Nazi-Posting-auf-Facebook/332845430

They really should clean house in their party, even though he was a kid this should not be acceptable.

8 years ago and the guy was 14 or 15. They should have found out about this during his "background check" though, and made him delete it. The fact that he liked his own comment is also atrocious Anyway, if this is all the mainstream media can find, I am not too worried about antisemitism supposedly running rampant within the FPÖ... surely they could find something more spicy than this if that were the case.

[DavidB.]

SPÖ flipflopped on this in government too, right?

Not a good look for the FPÖ, though, and I have the impression that the FPÖ have been slightly too strong in their wording regarding how they would stop CETA. I think many Austrians don't realize how much EU countries depend on free trade. There are some obvious issues with CETA, but in Austria I heard otherwise smart people saying that they might as well close their country off from foreign trade and become autarkic. This is something I have never heard in NL, because everyone realizes just how much we depend on trade (it's just so obvious given our history after all). Kneejerk anti-Americanism probably plays a huge role in the rejection of treaties like CETA in Austria, particularly among FPÖ voters. Hope this doesn't cost them too much in terms of trust and credibility.

[DavidB.]

Pretty interesting, considering the ÖVP-FPÖ government is in charge:

Austria cracks down on far-right Identitarian Movement

Is this driven by judges/public prosecutors, or did the government and Kickl actively make decisions here? In the latter case it's difficult to wrap my head around it. Generation Identity don't seem to be that radical, and freedom of association is a pretty fundamental right. Though the FPÖ probably doesn't appreciate the competition...

[DavidB.]

Bit irredentist putting South Tyrol here, lol.

Can't wait to cover the next Flemish election in my Dutch thread either

[DavidB.]

Is Mohr really as offensive as the N-word? Regardless, yes, this should not have been published.

[DavidB.]

Glad that the Austrian media are paying attention to the truly important things in politics. A good indication that FPÖVP are doing a great job if the media have to focus on non-news like this, though.

[DavidB.]

Because obviously some FPÖ guy's little model airplane is a bigger problem and should be a bigger news story than the violent crime, welfare abuse, radicalization, and disrespect for our countries that have now become par for the course all over Western Europe, including Austria.

[DavidB.]

So the FPÖ in Niederösterreich is apparently responsible for animal welfare under the Proporz system and attempts to make kosher slaughter as difficult as possible ("doing everything that's legally possible to limit the practice" were the exact words). Apparently somebody had come up with the idea to only allow people registered on lists to buy kosher meat, though the ÖVP have now said they will prevent this from happening. Still creepy, particularly when introduced by the party whose provincial leader had to resign over Nazi songs glorifying the Shoah, and a big nope.

[DavidB.]

Obviously slaughterhouses have to follow the rules and otherwise need to be closed down, but if kosher meat is legal, it is not the government's business to decide who can and who cannot buy kosher meat. Compiling lists of potential buyers is distasteful and the fact that this idea came from the SPÖ does not suddenly make it clean. Nobody can convince me that those who came up with this idea did not have the historical background of such ideas in mind: the WW2 history is even more prevalent in political thought and discourse in Austria than in the Netherlands.

My (non-Jewish) uncle is in the FPÖ Niederösterreich, I will ask him whether or not to bring a yellow star when I come to visit my aunt and him next time

[DavidB.]

A huge majority of Austrian voters (incl. me) do not want young asylum seekers which are in ongoing education/apprenticeships to be deported if they got a negative asylum decision from the courts, according to a new "Profil" magazine poll out today:

43% say they should only be deported after they have completed their apprenticeship/studies
29% are in favour of a general right to remain, even after completion of apprenticeship/studies
21% say deport them right after the court issues a negative verdict on their asylum status
  7% are undecided

https://www.profil.at/oesterreich/umfrage--abschiebung-lehrlinge-10224319

What's the point of having them continue their education at the expense of the taxpayer and then to say goodbye anyway? Seems cruel to me, and Austrians are not an ATM. A negative verdict should mean immediate deportation.

[DavidB.]

Wew lad

[DavidB.]

Wew lad

Oh my...

Very lengthy list indeed, a party-wide Nazi purge is definitely overdue.

Do things like these happen in the Netherlands' right-wing parties?

Look, I would still vote for the FPÖ. But this does show that this is an issue that is widespread. It's in the DNA of the party. Which is something we probably all knew, but I also sort of expected it to be slightly more rooted out. It isn't, and that's sad. It wouldn't prevent me from voting for them. But still.

In the Netherlands this is much less the case, as nationalism has been defined as anti-Nazi here -- it is part of the national (and nationalist) narrative to be opposed to Nazism. That said, as WW2 becomes ancient history and memories of the brutal occupation of the Netherlands fade away, and as multiculturalism becomes more of a nightmare, some people on the far-right are unfortunately becoming more sympathetic to this type of thinking, and we may soon see this in Dutch political life. Ultimately I suspect the Dutch far-right may indeed move in this direction, which is morally reprehensible but, I fear, may be inevitable.

[DavidB.]

Also, H.C. Strache will become the oldest party leader (he's turning 50 next year).

He's aged well. Would still hit it.

[DavidB.]

Serbo-Croat

That maybe explains why FPO has the mayor of Wels, as the party panders to Serbian nationalist immigrants - they seek endorsement from the Serbian right-wing (Tomislav Nikolić, Dragan Marković Palma), they vocally take Serbia's position on the Kosovo issue, that RTRS interview etc.

Good.