A Simplified Analysis of Austria’s Move to the Far Right
Written by Una Glatz, Fall 2024
Austria just voted for their new national parliament. As predicted, the far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) won the elections by receiving 29,2% of the votes. How come a country with a known Nazi past and multiple corruption scandals by the same party has now voted for the far-right again?
Who is the party: FPÖ
To understand who the far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) is and what they stand for we have to briefly delve into the past. Austrian history is deeply interwoven with the past of Nazi-Germany. However, time passed before the country began to critically work through their fascist past. This enabled a party such as the FPÖ to form in the year 1956 out of the structures of the earlier VdU party. Their founding chairman was Anton Reinthaller, a former SS brigade leader (as the FPÖ vaguely states on their website). He was just one of the many former Nazis involved in the establishment of the Freedom Party. Until Jörg Haider came along as their party Chairman in 1986, the party did not see parliamentary success. His charismatic leadership not only catapulted the FPÖ into popularity, but also made him the blueprint of far-right populism in Europe. His leadership was characterized by the trivialization of the war crimes committed by the Nazis. The reason I am mentioning the impactful role of Haider for the Freedom Party is because he led the way for the party‘s current controversial Chairman and election winner: Herbert Kickl.
Rise of the far-right in Austria — Herbert Kickl
While there are many combined factors that have led to this resurfaced success of the far-right party in Austria, the power of a popular politician should never be underestimated.
Herbert Kickl is, as inspired by his predecessor Jörg Haider, controversial in his populist rhetoric but extremely successful. Experts have deemed his rhetorical skills his biggest weapon. This know-how comes from years of experience as author of Haider’s speeches and FPÖ slogans. He knows how to formulate the classic far-right populist speech. He never fails to mention that the FPÖ is the “party of the people”, against “the system“ and “the elites“.
During this campaign for the recent elections on the 29th of September, Kickl mastered his rhetoric. Controversially calling himself the next “Volkskanzler“, which roughly translates to the “chancellor of the people”, is reminiscent of what people used to call Hitler. Self-appointing himself this position spread like wildfire through the news, even internationally. Whether one shared his vision or not, the term generated great publicity for the FPÖ. He has also made a name for himself in the pandemic years, where he strategically positioned himself at the front of the anti-vax movement. This was something that resonated well with a large part of the population, especially those living in the Austrian countryside. But more on this later.
The greater European context
The historical win of the party in this year‘s election can‘t only be attributed to Kickl. We are currently experiencing a political shift to the right in Europe, for example in Meloni‘s post-fascist party in Italy or the rise of the Afd in Germany, as well as in the formation of far-right coalitions in the EU. The FPÖ recently joined the new “Patriots for Europe“ group in the EU parliament. This makes the partners with the Hungarian Fidesz party, the French Rassemblement National and many more far-right parties of Europe.
But how come this is happening now? The accumulation of international crises is the strongest argument in favor. It is proven that in times of crises people crave change of established political landscapes and sympathize with the simplified but radical campaigning of the right. But what crises are we experiencing and why does this lead to the rise of the far-right in Austria?
Times of Crisis
It‘s important to see this rise of the far-right in Austria in the bigger international context. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 broke the longest period of peace Europe has ever experienced. Border conflicts are escalating, uncertainty and violence are omnipresent, there is a general worry for security, also in countries that are unaffected directly by the violence. This call for national security is then easily appropriated by the conservative right wing parties through fear tactics and racist slogans to advocate for their aggressive anti-asylum and anti-EU policies.
It is easy to harvest crises for a party’s needs when the news is overflowing with conflict and violence around the world. Fear mongering and crisis go hand in hand. It makes certain events, such as an influx of immigrants or a possible outbreak of violence, seem worse than they really are to simplify complex topics of international politics into short and imprecise solutions that polarize.
Lastly, the previous conservative coalition of ÖVP and the Greens failed to confront Austria‘s average inflation rate of 7.8% in 2023 that reflected at the grocery store and the rent and heating bills. The FPÖ‘s radical take on inflation, deeming it a problem created by the “elites“, was well-received. Discussion on economic policies was merged with the topic of migration by blaming economic decline on the welfare state. According to the FPÖ, this attracted too many migrants that steal state benefits and jobs from Austrian citizens. This has been disproven by science, but the rhetoric works nonetheless.
