Latest news with #Kickl
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Austria's far-right party leader criticises EU for its intentions towards Ukraine
Herbert Kickl, the leader of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), has sharply criticised the EU for its policy towards Ukraine. Source: Kickl in a statement on Monday, as reported by European Pravda Details: The FPÖ leader, whose party won the elections last autumn but failed to form a government, said that the EU was endangering the Austrian population. "While the US administration, led by President Trump, is trying to bring both sides to the negotiating table to end the suffering and death in Ukraine, the EU continues to rely on guns blazing and threatening gestures, thus further exacerbating the situation," Kickl said. He claimed that the EU elite is endangering the security of the population "to a degree that cannot be surpassed in terms of recklessness, irrationality and irresponsibility". "To continue in the same way, only much worse: that's what it comes down to," Kickl added. Background: On Tuesday, 4 March, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will send a letter to the EU leaders outlining her vision of a plan to rearm Europe, which aims to strengthen EU defence and support Ukraine. The day before, von der Leyen said that Ukraine needs to be put in a position of strength by providing it with the means of defence that will turn it into a kind of "steel porcupine". Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
BBC News
27-02-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Austrian centrists agree government deal sidelining far right
Five months after the far-right Freedom Party won Austria's general election, a three-way coalition looks set to exclude it from conservative People's Party (ÖVP), the Social Democrats (SPÖ), and the liberal Neos say they have successfully completed negotiations to form a new administration - a record 151 days since the election was held in September. The leader of the Eurosceptic, Russia-friendly Freedom Party (FPÖ), Herbert Kickl, called the tie-up a coalition of "losers" and called for a snap announcement follows the longest period of coalition negotiations in Austria's recent history, after two previous attempts to form a government failed. The three-party government, which would be the first since the late 1940s, is due to take office next week, if all the parties approve the deal. The biggest hurdle is a vote at a Neos party meeting on Sunday, where a two-thirds majority is new chancellor will be Christian Stocker of the Ö he presented the new government programme with the leader of the SPÖ, Thomas Babler, and the Neos, Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Stocker said the negotiations had been "perhaps the most difficult in the history of our country".But he said they had achieved "a breakthrough" that wasn't "a minimal compromise".The three parties set out plans to avoid facing a European Union procedure for running an excess budget deficit, with measures including an increased levy on programme also includes tougher asylum measures, including a temporary stop for family said there would be "an integration year for refugees" from day one of their arrival in three parties also said they reserved the right to impose an asylum freeze, if numbers of applications increased. They are also planning a headscarf ban for girls under programme also emphasised that the government was "committed to a strong and better European Union". In a post on social media, Kickl said: "I don't think this has ever happened before: a so-called 'government programme' before a government has even been formed."Despite the FPÖ's unprecedented victory, topping the polls for the first time, Austria's President Alexander Van der Bellen first gave the ÖVP the mandate to form a the time, the leaders of all of the other parties ruled out making an alliance with Herbert the ÖVP's first attempt to forge a coalition with the Social Democrats and Neos failed at the beginning of 6 January, Van der Bellen gave Kickl the mandate to form a a few weeks later, the Freedom Party's talks with the conservatives also broke down, partly due to disputes over minister analyst Thomas Hofer told the BBC that there had been "no base of trust" between the two ÖVP, the Social Democrats and Neos then started a second round of negotiations, which culminated in an Hofer says their new alliance faces challenges."This is of course an emergency cabinet. It had to be built quickly and one can see that looking at the programme, The main message is that they are not Herbert Kickl, but that message will not last very long. They will have to negotiate more along the way."Hofer says the parties "even have to guarantee inner party stability", and that their popularity could grow if they tackle "the massive problems ahead, but those problems are also a chance for the FPÖ", which he said had flourished in to opinion polls, a new election would see further gains for the Freedom Party.
Al Arabiya
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Austria is getting a new coalition government without the far-right election winner
Three parties announced Thursday that they have reached a deal to form a new centrist Austrian government five months after an election was won by a far-right party that later failed in an attempt to form an administration. A statement from the conservative Austrian People's Party, the center-left Social Democrats and the liberal Neos said they agreed on a program for a coalition after the longest post-election hiatus in post-World War II Austria. The country's politicians broke a record of 129 days to form a new government that dated back to 1962. New People's Party leader Christian Stocker is expected to become chancellor. The parties planned to present their program later Thursday. This was the second attempt by the three mainstream parties to form a new government without the far-right, anti-immigration, and euroskeptic Freedom Party, which in Austria's Sept. 29 election emerged for the first time as the strongest political force. It took 28.8 percent of the vote. Their first effort collapsed in early January, prompting the resignation of conservative then-Chancellor Karl Nehammer – and setting the scene for Austria's president to ask Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl to try to form a government. Kickl's own attempt to put together a coalition with the People's Party, which finished second in the election, collapsed in mutual recriminations on Feb. 12. The mainstream parties, which faced the risk of a new election that was unlikely to do them any favors, resumed their effort to find common ground. Stocker, 64, is heading for the chancellery as one of the most unlikely politicians yet to become the country's leader – a position he wasn't running for when Austrians voted in September. He spent much of his more than three decades in politics as a local politician in Lower Austria province before entering the national parliament in 2019. The highest elected office he has held so far was that of deputy mayor of Wiener Neustadt, south of Vienna. But he became an experienced crisis manager as the general secretary of the People's Party, a position he took in 2022. Stocker was known for his harsh criticism of Kickl before becoming party leader in the wake of Nehammer's abrupt resignation. But he then made an about-face and entered coalition talks with Kickl, under whom his party had previously refused to work. The outgoing government, a coalition of the People's Party and environmentalist Greens now led by interim Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg, has remained in place on a caretaker basis since the election. The People's Party and Social Democrats often governed Austria together in the past but have the barest possible majority in the parliament elected in September, with a combined 92 of the 183 seats. That was widely considered too small a cushion, and the two parties sought to bring in Neos, which has 18 seats and hasn't previously joined a national government. The deal still needs formal approval by the leadership of the two bigger parties and a two-thirds majority of Neos members at a convention expected on Sunday.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Far-right outlets shake up Austrian media
When Herbert Kickl announced that he had failed to form Austria's first far right-led government, two wildly different narratives of the coalition negotiations emerged in the media. While traditional news outlets reported that disagreements over key posts and other issues led to the failure, influential new far-right channel AUF1 blamed a plot by the "global elite". Kickl's far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) topped Austria's national election in September for the first time, winning almost 29 percent of the vote in a boost to Europe's burgeoning far right. In January, the party was tasked by the president with leading coalition talks with the conservatives. But negotiations collapsed this month, and three pro-European parties have since resumed coalition talks. With the FPOe demanding new elections, its historic success has shone a spotlight on the Alpine country's fast-growing new alternative media. Known for spreading right-wing narratives and conspiracy theories, alternative news outlets have become increasingly popular in Austria, as they have in other European countries. "All media lie, only some lie more," one participant at a far-right rally told Austrian daily Der Standard when asked why he trusts alternative news more than traditional media. - 'FPOe media house' - The Freedom party -- led by Kickl since 2021 -- recently bundled all of its media channels into the single "FPOe media house". It comprises a successful YouTube channel, a newspaper, and TikTok and Facebook feeds. The YouTube channel alone has more than 230,000 subscribers and some 80 million views over the last three years. With a centrally managed media house, the far right hopes to expand its "enormous reach", FPOe secretary general Christian Hafenecker told a presentation in January. "We are truly present on all channels to provide the population with unfiltered and up-to-date information," he added. During the Covid-19 pandemic, several regional media channels like AUF1 and RTV gained popularity and have thrived since. "We were increasingly pushed into the right-wing corner because we reported on the protests" against the government's strict Covid measures, RTV managing director Christian Schott told AFP. "Whether it's Covid or climate change, we do our own research, because the mainstream (media) is bought," he said. AUF1, together with the smaller RTV, were the first outlets to interview Kickl after his party's election victory. - Emulating the 'Hungarian model' - Since the pandemic, AUF1 -- which like RTV has its roots in Upper Austria -- has become "a leading media outlet in the German-speaking conspiracy sphere," according to a government report. Its founder Stefan Magnet has close links to the FPOe. He was present when the far-right party signed a "cooperation pact" with Vladimir Putin's United Russia party in 2016. While AUF1 did not respond to a request for interview by AFP, another far-right media outlet, Info-Direkt did. The channel publicly targeted AFP after receiving a written request, publishing the questions on its website. Info-Direkt says it aims to address topics far-right voters are concerned about, including "population exchange, the sexual confusion of our children and climate hysteria", and "an end to war-mongering" in Ukraine. The channel accuses established media of spreading "fake news" and says it focuses on "patriotic" content. The FPOe's draft government programme included plans to cut funding to Austria's public broadcaster ORF, saying it was a symbol of "left-wing propaganda". According to media expert Daniela Kraus, head of the Concordia press club, the FPOe seeks to "strengthen the parallel media universe" while targeting those who are "not aligned with its ideology". Kraus also expressed concern about the "downward spiral of public discourse". Kickl has repeatedly praised Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban as a "role model". Orban's government has clamped down on and transformed Hungary's media landscape during his 14 years in power. "Orban has shown it's possible to create a real alternative. Why shouldn't we do the same?", Hafenecker said in January. ec-zk/anb-kym/tw
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Austria's far-right FPÖ leader Kickl congratulates Germany's AfD
The leader of the right-wing populist FPÖ in Austria, Herbert Kickl, congratulated Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on its improved result in Sunday's parliamentary election. "In the firewall" of the mainstream parties "there is now a huge hole," Kickl said. He said in reality the "firewall" is a wall of fear placed in front of the will of the people and democratic change. People "no longer want to put up with paternalism, illegal mass immigration, the resulting Islamist terror and security chaos, climate communism and the destruction of prosperity," he said. Current projections show the AfD doubling its vote share from the 2021 election to reach around 20% - its strongest showing ever. Kickl's FPÖ emerged as the strongest party in Austria's September elections, taking just over 26%. Coalition negotiations have so far failed, however, as Kickl has been unable to agree on a government programme with the second-placed conservatives, the ÖVP. Now the conservatives, social democrats (SPÖ) and liberals (Neos) are trying to form a coalition government.
