The Guardian’s take on the Austrian election: another wake-up call editorial

TThe sequence has become incredibly familiar to me. A far-right movement is celebrating a strong election result in a European Union member state by amassing votes in provinces and rural areas at the expense of mainstream parties. Its leader proclaims “a new era” and happily accepts congratulations from Marine Le Pen, Viktor Orbán and Geert Wilders. Ethnic minorities, and Muslims in particular, feel less safe and less at home in the country where many of them were born.

And repeat. A clear first place for the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) in Sunday’s election follows a similar performance by Ms Le Pen’s Rassemblement National in France’s recent snap elections. Last month, across Austria’s northern border, a far-right party won a German state election for the first time since World War II. In Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the Czech Republic, the authoritarian right either rules or exerts significant influence.

Even in this outrageous undertaking, the climate-denying, Russia-friendly FPÖ stands out. The party was founded after the Second World War by former SS members under the leadership of Jörg Haider and anticipated the current wave of ethnocentric nationalism at the turn of the century. Its current chairman, Herbert Kickl, an ideologue of Haider’s ilk, sees Mr. Orbán as his modern role model. He has blazed a nefarious path, adopting and popularizing ideas from fringe extremist groups like Generation Identity – particularly the concept of “remigration” or forced repatriation to restore Austria’s “homogeneous people”. FPÖ politicians developed their own Orbán-style rhetoric, accusing LGBT+ groups of promoting “Globohomo ideology.” Mr Kickl has carved out an anti-vaccine niche for himself during the pandemic and is at the forefront of Covid-related conspiracy theories.

That such a party and such a leader should win most votes – if not an overall majority – in a liberal democracy is a frightening sign of the times. In a sense, the increasingly threadbare cordon sanitaire designed to keep Europe’s far right in check is being deployed again. Austria’s conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), which came in second place, will refuse to be part of a coalition led by Mr Kickl. But his potential willingness to strike a deal under different circumstances reflects the ongoing normalization of extreme politics across the continent. Unfortunately, Austria also has form in this regard, as it has already tolerated an FPÖ presence in the government twice.

For mainstream parties and European institutions, the first victory of the Austrian extreme right since the end of the Nazi era is another wake-up call. In Brussels, surprisingly confident EU officials have pointed out that the political center remains in control of the European Parliament after last June’s election and that the center-right European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is up for a second term was confirmed.

Such assurances ring hollow. The discontent caused by the cost of living crisis and economic stagnation provides a platform and an opportunity for parties that should not be considered. They are using it to achieve unprecedented success with arguments that scapegoat migrants and minorities, portray the green transition as an expensive and unnecessary imposition on the less well-off, and denigrate core European values ​​as elite virtue signaling. For those tasked with defending and promoting these values, the politics of “business as usual” are no longer appropriate.

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