Far-right’s election win raises fears among Austria’s Jewish community

The far-right FPÖ’s election success has raised concern among Austrian Jews, with community leaders noting the party’s links to Nazism and frequent incidents involving extremist symbols.

READ ALSO: Who voted for Austria’s far-right party, and what were their motives?
“The electoral success of the FPÖ has a threatening effect on many,” Deutsch said, highlighting the community’s unease regarding the FPÖ political stance.
He noted that the Freedom Party is not merely a right-wing party like others in Europe but is the political arm of “German nationalist fraternities”, he said, many of which maintain links to National Socialism.
Recent troubling incidents
Deutsch pointed to recent incidents involving FPÖ politicians, including their attendance at a funeral where an SS allegiance song was sung. “There are incidents like this every few weeks. They are part of the FPÖ’s DNA and remind us why we can talk about basement Nazis in the FPÖ,” he stated.
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He also talked about a contrast between the FPÖ’s public persona and affiliations. “In public, the FPÖ politicians were posing as democrats; in the cellars of the fraternities, they were unpacking Nazi songbooks,” he said.
Despite the FPÖ win, Deutsch noted that over 71 percent of voters chose parties that explicitly oppose the far-right party’s participation in government.
The other political parties have so far ruled out cooperation with the FPÖ, either entirely or with its leader, Herbert Kickl, as the nation navigates this new political reality. Austrian politicians will now spend the next weeks and possibly months trying to find agreements to form a coalition government—probably without the party with the most votes.
READ NEXT: How would a far-right government in Austria affect the lives of foreigners?

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Comments (1)

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Paul Covello

2024/10/03 07:44

“Despite the FPÖ win, Deutsch noted that over 71 percent of voters chose parties that explicitly oppose the far-right party’s participation in government. “
I’m having trouble squaring this statement.
If 71% did NOT vote for FPÖ then how did they win? Was the election rigged or something?
Someone please explain because this seems like a serious issue to me, a new Austrian Citizen.

Amanda Previdelli, The Local Austria

2024/10/04 15:19

Hi!
This can be confusing, especially if you are not originally from a country with some form of Parliament system – I’m not sure if that is your case.
The FPÖ is considered to have won because they were the party that got the most votes, even if they didn’t reach a majority. They received almost 29 percent of the votes, and will get an equivalent amount of chairs in the National Council (Austria’s Parliament).
They are also considered to have had a big victory because of how many more votes (and seats) they received in comparison to the previous election.
In Austria’s recent history, there has never been a party that won more than 50 percent of the votes in the federal level, so we have coalition governments. The reason why the winner FPÖ needs to try and make a coalition with other parties is so that they can get a majority in Parliament.
This is why we say they won despite them getting only 29 percent of the eligible votes. In the case of these elections, all other parties had previously condemned the FPÖ or its leader as extremists and said they wouldn’t form a coalition with them. This is why Deutsch said that 71 percent of the voters chose parties that opposed the FPÖ.
Does that make sense? Let me know if that explains it.
thanks!

See Also

The Jewish community in Austria has voiced their concern following the recent electoral success of the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ).
The FPÖ party secured approximately 29 percent of the vote in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, marking its best result to date. On Tuesday, Oskar Deutsch, President of the Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG), expressed these concerns in a statement to the German Press Agency (dpa).
READ ALSO: Who voted for Austria’s far-right party, and what were their motives?
“The electoral success of the FPÖ has a threatening effect on many,” Deutsch said, highlighting the community’s unease regarding the FPÖ political stance.
He noted that the Freedom Party is not merely a right-wing party like others in Europe but is the political arm of “German nationalist fraternities”, he said, many of which maintain links to National Socialism.
Recent troubling incidents
Deutsch pointed to recent incidents involving FPÖ politicians, including their attendance at a funeral where an SS allegiance song was sung. “There are incidents like this every few weeks. They are part of the FPÖ’s DNA and remind us why we can talk about basement Nazis in the FPÖ,” he stated.
He also talked about a contrast between the FPÖ’s public persona and affiliations. “In public, the FPÖ politicians were posing as democrats; in the cellars of the fraternities, they were unpacking Nazi songbooks,” he said.
Despite the FPÖ win, Deutsch noted that over 71 percent of voters chose parties that explicitly oppose the far-right party’s participation in government.
The other political parties have so far ruled out cooperation with the FPÖ, either entirely or with its leader, Herbert Kickl, as the nation navigates this new political reality. Austrian politicians will now spend the next weeks and possibly months trying to find agreements to form a coalition government—probably without the party with the most votes.
READ NEXT: How would a far-right government in Austria affect the lives of foreigners?

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