With legislative elections in Austria less than a month away, the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) running on an anti-immigrant platform highlighted its priorities.
FPO revealed its campaign manifesto
Expected to win the country’s general election on September 29, Austria’s far-right Freedom Party unveiled its campaign manifesto, which included proposals to boost the economy and reduce immigration, Reuters reported.
FPO head Herbert Kickl presented the program to party colleagues, describing it as a strategy for individualism, sovereignty, homogeneity, and solidarity.
FPO aims to stop migration and begin remigration
If FPO gains power, they plan to severely restrict immigration and expedite the repatriation of migrants back to their home countries.
The far right party promotes a so-called remigration; they want people to go back to where their families originally came from, especially those migrants who broke the law in Austria.
Herbert Kickl aims for zero refugee applications
According to FPO leader Herbert Kickl, Austria should aim for zero refugee applications because it is near secure countries where refugees could seek protection first. To discourage immigration, the far-right opposes allowing family members to join migrants already living in Austria.
The party also wants to pass a law to ban “political Islam.” The far right also targets increasing police numbers and their pay.
In the economy, they promise new taxes, tax breaks for young workers at the outset of careers, and different tax reliefs for some categories.
The FPO’s electoral manifesto, spanning over 100 pages, is titled “Fortress Austria—Fortress of Freedom.” One of the guiding concepts is “homogeneity,” which contrasts with the diversity that is now prominent in various locations, according to the statement.
Liberal Party leader called to investigate Kickl’s links with Russian intelligence
In May, the leader of Austria’s liberal party Beate Meinl-Reisinger urged the government to look into whether Herbert Kickl was guilty of treason following allegations that he and his party functioned as the “long arm of Russian intelligence,” as Politico reported.
Neos party leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger, citing a recent thorough investigation produced by Politico about the Freedom Party’s role in undermining Austria’s intelligence service, warned that the issue of Russian influence was “life or death for Austria and Europe.”
“The question is whether Kickl was a useful idiot for Putin or [whether he] knew what he was doing and for whom,” she said.
Former Austrian intelligence personnel provided Russia with confidential material for years, assisting Moscow in undermining the Austrian intelligence service. Their ultimate goal, according to Western intelligence experts, was to weaken Austria’s former intelligence agency, the BVT, and then rebuild it with Moscow-friendly agents, Politico reported.
A spokesman for the FPO Party dismissed the call for an investigation into Kickl’s role as “a baseless attempt to besmirch” the party.
FPO leads in polls
According to polls, the FPO can receive roughly 27% of the vote, with the conservative Austrian People’s Party (OVP) and the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO) lagging behind by about four points.
The FPO’s sole chance of gaining power is through a coalition with the OVP, as other parties are unwilling to work with the anti-globalist and anti-immigrant party.
