Image: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER
“In our opinion, left-wing extremism in Austria is taking on completely, completely new and massive dimensions,” said FP General Secretary Christian Hafenecker, justifying the initiative. He cited radical “climate glue”, attacks on FP party offices, death threats against liberal politicians and incidents during demonstrations against the Academic Ball as examples. The election victories of the KPÖ and the plans of the new SP leader Andreas Babler also fall into this category for Hafenecker.
On the other hand, the video of the blue youth offers no cause for criticism. The clip railed against “rainbow terror”, “population exchange” and allegedly “left-wing” journalists.
“I have no problem with the video,” said FP constitutional spokeswoman Susanne Fürst: “I find population exchange (battle vocabulary of right-wing extremist identities, note) a relatively unemotional and factual term.”
Hitler balcony
The fact that the so-called Hitler balcony was also shown is no reason for Hafenecker to condemn the video. “How would you film the Hofburg without the balcony on it?”
SP MP Sabine Schatz accused the FPÖ of wanting to put an end to the critical debate on right-wing extremism in view of its attacks on the documentation archive of Austrian resistance and the right-wing extremism report. Eva Blimlinger (Greens) welcomed the fact that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is examining the FP video.
VP General Secretary Christian Stocker found that the “Kickl-FPÖ” no longer tried to “deny affinities with the right-wing extremist scene”.
Source: Nachrichten
