The far right Herbert Kicklleader of Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), founded by the nazi Anton Reinthallerhas achieved a historic victory for his party this Sunday by winning a national election for the first time since World War II.
With proclamations racist, xenophobic, homophobic and ultranationalistadmirer of Vladimir Putin and the Hungarian Viktor Orbán and specialist in spreading hoaxesHerbert Kickl has won the elections with 29% of the votes, although he has no partner with whom to govern. It remains to be seen if the Austrian right, as promised, will create a cordon sanitaire to the extreme right.
Kickl is the politician who generates the most rejection in the country, since 60% of Austrians do not want him to be federal chancellor. Even so, his victory is historic because, for the first time, the extreme right has prevailed in Austria since 1945. And it has done so with a party founded by a member of the SS.
People’s Chancellor
His campaign has focused on presenting himself as Volkskanzler, people’s chancelloras defined Adolf Hitler before becoming Führer of Nazism and Germany. He also calls on other political parties Volksverräter, traitors to the people, terms, both, with very clear Nazi echoes.
Under the motto Austria first, emulating the American First of Donald Trump, defends the remigration, which consists of non-European citizens being expelled to ensure the cultural and racial homogeneity. He has also been in favor of close the borders, deny all asylum applications that the country receives and deport foreigners convicted of a crime. Its objective, to turn Austria into a “strength” with a radical anti-immigration program.
The non-existence of climate changethe rejection of policies and the LGTBIQ+ collective and his opposition to aid to Ukraine are the pillars of a policy with which, he says, he wants to change “the system.” Also rejects the European Convention on Human Rights and ensures that the abortion It is a “personal arbitrariness.”
Triathlon and marathon runner, Herbert Kick represents the FPÖ hardliner and he has always felt comfortable away from the spotlight. In fact, he does not grant interviews and little is known about his life, but he uses his party’s social networks and television like few others, something that has already worked for him in the past.
radical populist, He is known in Austria for spread dozens of hoaxes like there is a plan by the “elites” to replace the white European population with immigrants, he denies climate change and went so far as to say that Covid came out of a laboratory and described it as a “plandemic.”
In fact, not only did he never wear a mask, he also never got vaccinated and recommended taking a horse deworming medication as an alternative to conventional treatment against coronavirus.
Path
The FPÖ leader grew up in a small town in Carinthia and was the first in his family to go to university, where he studied two racesone of them Philosophy, but that never ended. He also did not complete subsequent military training in a mountain command.
His approach to the Austrian far-right came during his university days. The leftist atmosphere of the faculty generated a strong aversion in him that led him to admire Jörg Haider, historic leader of the FPÖ, from 1995.
Herbert Kickl celebrates his victory this Sunday.
for years wrote Haider’s speeches and then he was the right hand of the subsequent leader Heinz-Christian Strachethe former vice chancellor who resigned in 2019 over a major corruption scandal.
Although Herbert Kickl does not stand out for his personal charisma, he has done so as a strategist and parliamentary speaker, which led him to rise very quickly within a party founded by Anton Reinthaller, SS member with member number 292,775 and prisoner of war in Russia for two years in World War I.
When Haider fractured the party in 2005, Kickl remained loyal to the FPÖ and joined the new leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, whom he turned into a popular figure and led to power in 2017 when the party formed a coalition with the People’s Party. ÖVP.
After good results in 2017, the FPÖ closed a coalition with the ÖVP of Sebastian Kurz and Kickl accepted a public position for the first time, that of Minister of the Interior.
Although he only lasted two years in this position, his work still has repercussions for Austria due to the controversial changes he made in the BVT, the country’s internal Intelligence service, which led other foreign agencies to stop sharing information with it.
Several officials, including those investigating the FPÖ’s links with Russia or right-wing extremist groups in Europe, were removed from service and investigated.
The outgoing coalition of conservatives and environmentalists had to re-found the BVT and change its name (DSN) to regain credibility with its international partners and re-establish Intelligence connections.
After the 2019 corruption scandal that led to the resignation of Heinz-Christian Strache, The FPÖ sank in the polls, but Kickl once again knew how to read the situation to take political advantage.
Faced with measures against the Covid pandemic, such as mandatory vaccination and numerous confinements and the use of masks, Kickl became the standard bearer against restrictions and organized massive demonstrations against the Austrian Government.
In fact, he then refused to wear masks in Parliament, refused vaccines and recommended using a horse dewormer instead.
In 2021 he was elected as the new leader of the FPÖ and further radicalized his party’s discourse, defending conspiracy theories and redoubling criticism of the European Union, while describing Western sanctions against Russia after the invasion of Ukraine as “a craziness”.
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