Herbert Kickl, leader of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ, far right), has been the favourite in the polls for months, and has decided to campaign for the Austrian parliamentary elections organised on Sunday 29 September, avoiding most of the requests for interviews from the established media. On the other hand, he spoke on 14 September for almost an hour on the conspiratorial 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-vaccine, pro-Russian or anti-immigration theses.
When an obsequious presenter asked him about his support for “Patriotic NGOs”The 55-year-old, very radical leader of the Austrian far right, defended the role of the “of this civil society” For ” release [le pays] of the cartel domination of self-proclaimed elites ». Although he did not name the Identitarian movement directly, it is clear that Kickl, who is credited with around 27% of the vote in the polls, was trying to send another 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, its leader, Martin Sellner, founder of the Austrian Identity Movement, has been openly campaigning for the FPÖ on social media.
Transforming the country into a “fortress”
In his program, Kickl openly uses the latter’s particular vocabulary, stating that he wants to transform his small country of nine million inhabitants into “strength”EITHER “The right to asylum will be suspended.” He also advocates for the “remigration”in order to return to austria “the homogeneity of its people”Pressed to clarify his intentions, Kickl mentioned in particular the idea of withdrawing the nationality of any naturalized person. “that attacks our values”But some of their candidates even went so far as to mention the “remigration” (i.e. the return to their country of origin) of “disrespectful schoolchildren” to their teacherssor even simple “slag”.
This proximity goes back a long way. In 2021, just two days after his ascension to the presidency of the FPÖ, Kickl announced that he would authorise identitarianism. to join it, contrary to the policy of their predecessors and their French allies in the National Rally, who kept their distance from the sulphurous movement. The Identitarians are “Simple right-wing NGO” of which “ The project is interesting and worthy of support.”He has always defended this petite brunette with glasses who, when she was Interior Minister between 2017 and 2019, had pressured the Austrian intelligence services to stop monitoring her activities.
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