A favorite in the polls for months, Herbert Kickl, leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ, far right), decided to campaign for the Austrian legislative elections held on Sunday, September 29, by avoiding most interview requests from established media. On the other hand, he spoke on September 14 for nearly an hour on the conspiracy WebTV AUF1. Founded during the Covid-19 pandemic by an activist close to identitarian circles, this channel based in Linz has become an influential receptacle throughout the German-speaking world for the most radical anti-vax, pro-Russian and anti-immigration theses.
Asked by an obsequious presenter about his support for the “Patriotic NGOs”the 55-year-old radical leader of the Austrian far right, defended the role in front of the cameras “of this civil society” For ” release [le pays] from the domination of the cartel of self-proclaimed elites”. Although he did not directly name the Identitarian movement, it is clear that Mr. Kickl, credited with around 27% of the vote in the polls, sought to send a new signal to the followers of the racist and conspiracy theory of the “great replacement”: in the event of victory, they will be able to count on him. For months, their leader, Martin Sellner, founder of the Austrian Identitarian Movement, has also been openly campaigning for the FPÖ on social networks.
Transforming the country into a “fortress”
In his programme, Mr Kickl openly adopts the latter's very particular vocabulary, assuring that he wants to transform his small country of nine million inhabitants into “fortress”Or “the right to asylum will be stopped.” He also advocates the “remigration”in order to return to Austria “the homogeneity of his people”. When pressed to clarify his intentions, Mr. Kickl notably mentioned the idea of withdrawing nationality from all naturalized persons. “which attacks our values”but some of its candidates have gone so far as to mention the “remigration” (i.e. the return to their country of origin) of “Disrespectful schoolchildren” to their teacherssor even simple ones “scum”.
This proximity goes back a long way. In 2021, just two days after he became head of the FPÖ, Mr Kickl announced that he would allow identitarians to join it, contrary to the policy of his predecessors and that of his French allies in the National Rally, who are keeping their distance from the sulphurous movement. The identitarians are a “simple right-wing NGO” of which “ The project is interesting and worthy of support”has always defended this little brown-haired man with glasses, who, when he was Minister of the Interior, between 2017 and 2019, had put pressure on the Austrian intelligence services to stop monitoring their activities.
You have 59.44% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
Source: Lemonde
