Austria’s far-right Freedom party (FPÖ) will enter government next week, after striking a coalition deal with chancellor-elect Sebastian Kurz. Austria will be the only European state to have a far-right party in government.
The FPÖ, which has close ties with Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party and rightwing governments in Hungary and Poland, will take control of the defence, interior and foreign ministries under the coalition deal. Heinz-Christian Strache, the Freedom party leader, will become vice-chancellor.
Mr Kurz, a critic of EU immigration policies since Europe’s 2015 refugee crisis, won the general election on October 15, after campaigning on promises to halt illegal immigration, curb foreigners’ access to welfare payments as well as tax cuts (Austria, with a population of 9 million, received 130,000 asylum applications in 2015 and 2016). The FPÖ took 26 per cent of the vote. The centre-left Social Democrats (SPÖ), which previously led a grand coalition with Mr Kurz’s People’s party (ÖVP), came second with 26.9 per cent of the vote. The election highlighted the rise of populist, anti-establishment movements across Europe in recent years, which capitalised on voter dissatisfaction with mainstream parties’ handling of the economy, immigration and security.
It is not the first time the Freedom party has been in government. When the FPÖ joined a government in 2000, under the party leadership of the late Jörg Haider, Austria was ostracised by its EU neighbours. Such an approach is highly unlikely to be repeated.
Austria’s economy is one of the strongest in the EU and the country is a net contributor to the EU budget. The new government plans to cut taxes as a share of gross domestic product to 40 per cent from 43 per cent, loosen labour laws and give voters more say on policy through referendums. Mr Strache, however, has agreed to exclude a Brexit-style referendum on leaving the European Union.
EU policies will be assigned directly to Mr Kurz, who has pledged to lead a pro-EU government that will remain an integral part of the eurozone.
Photo: Gregor Tatschl
