The party uses Hitler's title - heading for election victory

Herbert Kick

Using Hitler's title - could be the biggest in the election in Austria

Karin Thurfjell

Updated 17.32 | Published 16.39

The far-right party FPÖ can achieve a historic victory in today's election in Austria.

The party is the largest in surveys with proposals to "protect" children from drag queens.

At the same time, a leaked video shows how party leaders attend a funeral where a Nazi song is sung.

The scandal-plagued Freedom Party (FPÖ) becomes the largest party in the polling station survey in Austria and increases by almost 13 percentage points compared to the last election. If it stands in the final result, it will be the first time that the far-right party is Austria's largest.

In the days before the election, a video was leaked to the Austrian Der Standard, from the funeral of Walter Sucher, a former politician for the Freedom Party (FPÖ).

In it, the mourners are seen standing by the grave in the rain and singing about "das heilige deutsche Reich", the Holy German Empire. Among the funeral guests were at least three party leaders, writes  Der Standard.

The song that the guests are heard singing belonged to the SS standard repertoire and is called the Nazi organization's "loyalty song". Austria has a law banning symbols and activities associated with the SS. The organization Jewish student union in Austria has reported to the police two FPÖ politicians seen in the video.

Herbert Kickl. Photo: Heinz-Peter Bader / AP

The signal to the most radical

- Such people do not belong in parliament but in court, says Jewish student union chairman Alon Ishay to Der Standard.

The incident is also criticized by the party's political opponents. The FPÖ says in a statement to the Austrian news agency APA that it is a private person who has been buried and that the FPÖ had nothing to do with the burial. FPÖ also says that it is "disrespectful and shabby" to "politically abuse" the funeral.

The FPÖ was founded by former Nazis in 1955. The video from the funeral is not the only recent link to Nazism. At FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl's election meetings, supporters chant "volkskanzler", people's chancellor, writes the British Guardian. It is the same title that the Nazis used for leader Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. No other politician in Austria has used the epithet since then.

- It is a targeted provocation with two purposes: to get people talking and to send clear signals to the most radical corners of the party, says Nina Horaczek, who has written a book about Herbert Kickl, to the AFP news agency.

Several major demonstrations against the party have been held in Austria ahead of the election. Photo: Andreea Alexandru / AP

Want to protect children from drag queens

In the party's election manifesto there are proposals such as that immigrants should lose their citizenship if they "stubbornly refuse to integrate" and to introduce emergency laws to abolish the right to asylum.

The party also wants to change Austria's constitution so that the country has better protection against "attacks" from the EU, the World Health Organization WHO and the UN climate panel IPCC. In addition, the FPÖ wants to "protect" children from drag queens and "gender confusion", writes Der Standard.

In the polling station survey in Austria, which was presented when the polling stations closed at 5 p.m., the FPÖ became the largest party with 29.1 percent. The second largest in the survey is the conservative OVP with 26.2 percent. Social democratic SPÖ gets 20.4. If the result is correct, it will be the first time the FPÖ becomes the largest party in Austria. This is reported by Austrian public service television orf.at.

According to the forecast, both the Greens and the liberal Neos get just over 8 percent. FPÖ gets 12.9 percentage points more than in the last election, in the polling station survey. OVP retreats by 11.1 percent.

But even if the FPÖ becomes the largest, it is not certain that they can form a government. So far, no other party has said that they are willing to cooperate with the FPÖ for a majority. Instead, there are indications that the ÖVP, the Social Democrats and a third party will form a coalition government.

           

The party waves the Austrian flag after the leader's speech at a campaign meeting during the election campaign. Photo: Heinz-Peter Bader / AP

FACTS

Austrian far-right party

FPÖ stands for Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (Freedom Party of Austria) and was founded in 1955 by former Nazis.

From having a more liberal profile, the Freedom Party was taken in a more right-wing radical and populist direction during the 1980s by the then party leader Jörg Haider. FPÖ has been part of several different government constellations and pursued a more or less xenophobic line.

FPÖ has long had close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his United Russia party. During the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the party leadership sided with Russia and opposed EU sanctions.

Herbert Kickl, born in 1968 in Villach, was elected FPÖ's leader in June 2021. Since then, the party's opinion figures have risen significantly.

TT

FACTS
SS

SS is an abbreviation of Schutzstaffeln, which means protection department or protection guard. It was a Nazi German paramilitary fighting organization that had its origins in Hitler's personal bodyguard.

The SS was an elite force that was the most important actor during the Holocaust.

Sources: The National Encyclopedia and Forum for Living History.