Postwar Austria’s political centre has been crumbling for 25 years. But on Monday morning hundreds of protesters gathered in central Vienna to witness what they fear is the final landslide.
From students to grannies, the crowd braved zero-degree weather with angry shouts and urgent banner slogans: “We don’t want an right-wing extremist Austria” and “All together against fascism”.
“The democratic centre in Austria has been hollowed out and fallen away and we don’t know what’s coming next,” said Monica Salzer, founder of the Omas Gegen Rechts – Nannies against Nazis – movement.
The focus of protesters’ fury: talks in the nearby Hofburg palace between Austrian president Alexander Van der Bellen and Herbert Kickl, the 56-year-old leader of the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ).
Justin Trudeau promised ‘sunny ways’ but could not fulfil his lofty ambitions
Trump comes full circle as Washington marks anniversary of Capitol riot
Elon Musk fights Battle of Britain on two fronts as he clashes with Nigel Farage and Keir Starmer
Lebanon ceasefire: Fog of war enables claim and counter-claim to retard progress
On September 29th his party scored a historic election victory, finishing above 28 per cent, only to be excluded by the president from coalition talks because no other party would work with them.
Some 99 days later, following the collapse of talks for an alternative coalition, Van der Bellen summoned Kickl to the Hofburg palace for a meeting he never wanted to have.
“It has always been my constitutional obligation to seek a government with a 50 per cent-plus majority in parliament,” said Van der Bellen after two hours of talks about Austria’s considerable economic and security challenges as well as concerns about its media freedom.
“Herr Kickl is confident he can find sustainable solutions through government negotiations and he wants this responsibility,” the president added in a televised address, “so I issued him a mandate to begin talks to form a government”.
It was a decision he “hadn’t taken lightly” and as head of state, he would “continue to make sure that the principles and rules of our constitution are adhered to and respected”.
[ Austrian far-right party poised for power after centrist coalition talks collapseOpens in new window ]
It was a clear warning to the absent Kickl, who vanished from the Hofburg without speaking to the media but instead, on his Facebook page, posted a video loop of him arriving for talks with the president.
Those talks marked a major shift in postwar Austrian politics. Unlike the country’s first coalition including the FPÖ a quarter century ago, and another that collapsed in 2019, the far-right party will be the senior partner in looming talks – and in the driving seat of any coalition that emerges.
“Kickl is finally at his goal, he desperately wants to become chancellor, but it’s very unclear what will happen now,” said Robert Treichler, a journalist with Profil magazine and co-author of a recent Kickl biography. “Everyone assumes the parties will agree easily but that can only happen with major shift and concessions.”
The nationalist, Eurosceptic FPÖ promised voters an “Austria First” government that would claw back national competences from Brussels, suspend asylum rights and end Austrian support for Ukraine and common European defence.
Tensions with Brussels are likely too over Austria’s moribund economy and a looming deadline to present a plan to cut its ballooning deficit.
Last weekend, talks between centrist parties failed over whether to reduce the deficit through higher taxes or lower welfare payments. The FPÖ is simultaneously opposed to cutting welfare payments or raising taxes.
While the FPÖ will have to make concessions here in talks, Treichler predicts even more painful decisions ahead for the traditionally pro-EU ÖVP.
“If the ÖVP throw overboard their pro-EU convictions, the question is what they stand for,” said Treichler. “But we know that the ÖVP will do anything to avoid fresh elections, given how badly they would fare.”
Current opinion polls show the FPÖ up nearly eight points on their September result while the centre-right ÖVP is down six points.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis