<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/30/victory-austria-another-step-far-right-march-europe-eu>
"It had been expected for months – the party had been leading the polls since
2022. Nor was it exactly a crushing victory: far from an absolute majority, and
just two points more than its previous highest score. It may not even end up in
government.
But the first place finish in Austria’s parliamentary elections by the
far-right, anti-immigration, Russia-friendly Eurosceptic Freedom party (FPÖ)
nonetheless marks another significant step in the radical right’s onward march
across Europe.
The FPÖ, founded by former Nazis, has been in power before, as the junior
partner in short-lived coalition governments with the centre-right Austrian
People’s party (ÖVP) in 2000 and 2017, but it has never before finished first
in a national election.
Its performance on Sunday, with a score of 29%, represents a remarkable
comeback after it looked close to collapse barely five years ago, when the
cash-for-influence Ibiza scandal forced its then leader to resign and brought
down the government.
It rounds off 12 months of elections in which illiberal parties have won the
most seats in parliaments across Europe. This time last year, populist,
autocratic, Brussels-baiting Robert Fico topped the ballot in Slovakia and
formed a government soon after.
Less than two months later, the Freedom party (PVV) of the anti-Islam firebrand
Geert Wilders finished first in Dutch elections, eventually assembling a
cabinet that has promised the country’s toughest-ever policies on immigration
and law and order.
In May, Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) achieved its best ever
result in European parliament elections in France, inflicting a humiliating
defeat on President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist forces and prompting him to
dissolve parliament.
In the ensuing vote, the RN went on to record its highest ever score in the
first round. In the second it took an even higher share of the vote and,
despite unprecedented tactical voting against it, wound up as the largest
single party in the assembly.
This month in Germany, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) secured a historic
victory in regional elections in Thuringia, the first time the far-right party
had topped a state ballot, and finished a close second in two more, Saxony and
Brandenburg."
People are scared - and the far right are feeding and will perpetuate that
fear. Politicians need to learn to offer hope and joy
and then deliver at
least some of their promises. Which is admittedly not going to be easy, but we
must all do our very best.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
