A far right party with Nazi roots is on the brink of power in Austria

Elections will be held on Sunday. Its leader, Herbert Kickl, has been branded as “Volkskanzler” or “People’s Chancellor,” by his party, a term the Nazis used to describe Hitler.


Herbert Kickl campaigns ahead of European parliamentary elections in June.Christian Bruna / Getty Images file

Sept. 28, 2024, 10:12 AM EDT
By Alexander Smith and Carlo Angerer

Politics in a central European country of just 10 million people might not seem consequential. But that’s not the case in Austria, where there’s a good chance its election Sunday will be won by a far-right, pro-Russia party that was founded by former Nazis. ... A win for the Freedom Party, or FPÖ, would not just have historical connotations — Austria was the birthplace of Adolf Hitler — it could tilt the balance of power between Russia and the West.

Though small, Austria has for centuries enjoyed outsized influence as a crossroads at the heart of Europe. Its neutral status, neither officially allied with NATO nor Russia, means that for centuries it has served as an arena for politicians, diplomats and spies trying to tilt the geopolitical balance.

So it’s not just that the FPÖ is criticized by opponents as xenophobic and racist, some Western onlookers are also alarmed by its staunch opposition to supporting Ukraine against Moscow. Though Austria is a member of the European Union, its far-right party leading the polls has strong links with Russian President Vladimir Putin — the bloc’s arch nemesis.

The FPO is seeking to form “an axis of far right-wing actors in the European Union,” according to Peter Filzmaier, a professor at Austria’s Kerms and Gratz universities, and one of the country’s top political commentators. Even if the party fails to form a coalition government — all other major groups have refused to work with them — this would be a “symbolic” victory for the movement, he said. ... The FPÖ is led by Herbert Kickl, 55, a wiry, acerbic provocateur in designer glasses.

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Inside the world of Martin Sellner, millennial influencer of Europe’s far right

The Post spent time with Sellner to understand his secretive movement and how his rhetoric found its way into the Trump campaign and Austria’s election on Sunday.

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