It’s a close NATO partner. It’s a member of the European Union. And this nation will be ruled by a pro-Russia party. We’re talking about Austria, where a party seen as close to Russian leader Vladimir Putin has emerged victorious. The Freedom Party (FPO), led by Herbert Kickl, has secured close to 30 per cent votes, becoming the largest party in the country now. Kickl now aspires to become the country’s chancellor but will have to form a coalition to reach parliamentary majority.
Herbert Kickl’s victory in the elections has already got Kyiv nervous though! Kyiv Independent, which is Ukraine’s propaganda pamphlet, reported how Kickl is a long time ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Vladimir Putin. Kickl has always opposed providing aid and weapons to Kyiv and supported lifting of sanctions from Russia imposed in the aftermath of invasion of Ukraine. Freedom Party maintains that sanctions on Russia are hurting Austria more than Russia itself.
Freedom Party is also a staunch critic of European Union and opposes EU’s open border policy. It is highly critical of immigration and asylum seekers, saying it will curb migration to Austria. The party wants to invoke Austria’s emergency laws and make the country “homogeneous”.
In its election program, titled “Fortress Austria,” the Freedom Party called for “remigration of uninvited foreigners,” for achieving a more “homogeneous” nation by tightly controlling borders and suspending the right to asylum.
The party also wants to bow out of the European Sky Shield Initiative, a missile defense project launched by Germany. Kickl has lambasted “elites” in Brussels and called for some powers to be brought back from the European Union to Austria.
Kickl has come a long way. He has achieved a turnaround since Austria’s last parliamentary election in 2019. In June, the Freedom Party narrowly won a nationwide vote for the first time in the European Parliament election, which also brought gains for other European far-right parties.
It shows how Austrian voters have grown fed up of the war in Ukraine and Kyiv’s war machinery. Inflation has skyrocketed in Austria in the past few years and Kickl believes the solution lies in Moscow.
If he manages to form a coalition, he will pursue stronger ties with Russia, thus complicating EU’s Ukraine policy. Many in Brussels fear he may emerge as the next Viktor Orban.
Hungary, led by PM Orbán, has long used its veto power within the EU to block military aid packages for Ukraine or allow them to be approved in exchange for concessions. Orbán, who has an alliance with the Freedom Party in the European Parliament, is seen as a role model by Herbert Kickl.
Christoph Schwarz, a Research Fellow at the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy, said if the FPÖ enters the government, “one can assume that Austrian support for EU initiatives in support of Ukraine will be harder to attain.” Even so, he adds, much would depend on “political bargaining and the composition of such a government.”
The FPÖ and United Russia, Vladimir Putin’s party, signed a Friendship treaty in 2016. The FPÖ’s Russian connections have led to bizarre moments. Karin Kneissl, appointed Austria’s foreign minister on the FPÖ’s recommendation in 2017, danced with Putin at her wedding in 2018. Kneissl now lives in Russia, where she was recently appointed goodwill ambassador for Siberian tiger conservation.
You see, FPO is really close to Putin and Russia. And the party should never be apologetic for it! If a Zelensky or a Olaf Scholz can be in bed with Uncle Sam all the time, what’s wrong with an Austrian party growing ties with Russia?