New European Course: Orbán, Le Pen and Wilders are buzzing over Austria’s far right winning election – this is a Global Anti-Globalism

The FPÖ Herbert Kickl.

Russia-friendly Austrian Freedom Party wins big in national vote triggering delight in conservative circles, writes POLITICO in confusion.

From Marine Le Pen to Matteo Salvini to Geert Wilders, Europe’s right wingers are celebrating after the anti-immigration, Russia-friendly Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) won Austria’s national election on Sunday.

The FPÖ, led by Herbert Kickl, won 29 percent of the vote, nearly doubling its share from the last election, according to preliminary results, and putting it about three points ahead of the center-right Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP).

Congratulations poured in from conservatives corners of Europe.

Geert Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, wrote on social media, “We are winning! Times are changing! Identity, sovereignty, freedom and no more illegal immigration/asylum is what tens of millions of Europeans long for!”

Kickl’s French allies, the National Rally, were also thrilled. Party chief Marine Le Pen said that she was “delighted” with the FPÖ’s victory, which “confirms the triumph of the people.”

The leader of Italy’s League, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, called it “a historic day in the name of change.”

“To those who speak of the ‘far right,’ we remind you that in Vienna the only extreme thing is the desire for change that puts the values of work, family and security back at the center,” Salvini added.

The FPÖ, founded in the 1950s by former members of the SS and other Nazi veterans, ran on an anti-foreigner platform, vowing to erect a “Fortress Austria” to keep out migrants.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán congratulated the FPÖ leader on his “historic victory,” calling it “another win for Patriots,” in reference to the new hard-right grouping in the European Parliament.

Kind words also came from a top politician in Austria’s neighbor, the Czech Republic: “Viktor Orbán was right to point out that the Patriots for Europe are getting stronger day by day,” former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš wrote in his congratulatory message.

The Social Democratic Party finished third in Sunday’s vote, recording the worst result in its history with 21 percent. The Greens, who govern alongside the ÖVP in the current government, also suffered a steep decline in support to finish with just eight percent. The liberal NEOS, meanwhile, were the other winners of the night, finishing with over nine percent.

Populist, ‘right’, leaders of Europe: Geert Wilders of The Netherlands, Italy’s Matteo Salvini, Germany’s Jörg Meuthen, and France’s Marine Le Pen.
Photo: Epc.eu

“We will kick upwards and clamp down on those who don’t mean well for us”, said Herbert Kickl in May 2023. Under Kickl’s leadership, the Austrian Freedom party (FPÖ) has scored its biggest election victory. Not only is the FPÖ now more popular than ever, it is also at the height of its radicalism, writes ‘The Guardian’ demonstrating negativity. European liberals are in shock. They understand where public opinion and popular interest have swung.

The FPÖ’s victory in Sunday’s national elections is being celebrated by far-right movements and influencers across Europe. No wonder: it demonstrates how successful they have been at normalising and internationalising their extreme ideologies, conspiracy myths and policy proposals.

Many of the FPÖ’s ideas have been inspired by Generation Identity, a pan-European white nativist movement that has its roots in France and is particularly strong in Austria. In a post-election livestream to his followers, the movement’s Austrian leader, Martin Sellner, celebrated the FPÖ win as “a dream result”. He has been one of the most influential proponents of the term “remigration” (the policy of mass deportation of people with a migration background), which had its first spike on social media following a 2014 extreme-right meet-up in France.

Ten years later, the FPÖ is far from the only far-right political party that has embraced the concept. Germany’s AfD party used “remigration” as part of its campaigns for regional elections in Saxony and Thuringia on 1 September, and Donald Trump recently called for “remigration” in a post about “illegal migrants”.

Immigration is only one of the FPÖ’s controversial campaign topics. Covid conspiracy myths, climate change denial, anti-feminism and anti-LGBTQ+ (banned in Russia) discourse are other features of the party’s branding. The FPÖ member of parliament Michael Gruber recently shared an election campaign video on Instagram that showed him throwing a rainbow flag in a bin with the tagline “Cleaning up for Austria”.

With Kickl using dogwhistles such as “climate communism” and “WHO dictatorship”, the FPÖ has been able to expand its support base among conspiracy theorists and Covid deniers. What does Kickl mean by kicking upwards, for example? He promised to become an FPÖ chancellor “who won’t bow down to the EU, Nato and the WHO”.

Despite the far-right populists’ focus on ultra-nationalism, their own networks are remarkably transnational. This is a global anti-globalism.

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