VIENNA – It is rare to get a statement from Herbert Kickl, leader of the Austrian far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) and Austria’s first potential far-right chancellor, on issues relating to foreign policy, mainly on Middle East affairs.
Kickl, whose party won a general election last September for the first time and is now engaged in weary negotiations with Austria’s conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) on forming a new government, is more interested in what is happening inside Austria than outside its borders.
Kickl would like to see Austria again adopt a neutral foreign policy, mainly regarding the major current global conflicts – Ukraine and the Middle East. Following this line, he decided not to join other European New Right leaders in traveling to Washington to participate in US President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony.
Therefore, it was highly unusual that Kickl decided to express himself at length in a Facebook post on the decision of the Patriots for Europe (PfE) group to accept the Israeli Likud Party as an observer within the new right-wing political group at the European Parliament. This decision was approved during a PfE meeting held in Madrid last weekend.
“Very good news from the Patriots’ congress in Madrid,” wrote Kickl. “The Likud is now officially, based on a unanimous decision with immediate effect taken at the congress in Madrid, an observer in our EU group. For your information, the Likud is the largest right-wing [party] in Israel, and its leader is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“It’s another sign that the fairytale about ‘international isolation’ is falling apart. We are naturally aware of the fact that this cooperation doesn’t suit certain people (smiley). Whatever, it’s great what our Harald Vilimsky (the FPÖ chief representative at the European Parliament) has achieved here.”
A controversial move
This statement is all about the FPÖ breaking “the fairytale” about its international isolation. Indeed, for the FPÖ, working together with Israel’s ruling party is a major diplomatic breakthrough: Israel is officially still boycotting the leading Austrian party, which was founded in the 50s by former Nazis and has, until today, considerable difficulties in disengaging itself from the Nazi past and neo-Nazis within the party.
Leaders of the local Jewish community claim that the FPÖ is a party of “cellar Nazis” – Nazis who, in public, hide their ideology for tactical political purposes but, when they meet among themselves, freely express their real ideas. It is, of course, a generalization. The FPÖ is not a Nazi party, and most of its voters are not neo-Nazis.
However, the FPÖ still has many unsolved Nazi problems in its ranks. The problematic positions of the FPÖ regarding Austria’s responsibility to its past during WWII have become very clear during the ongoing negotiations on forming a new government.
According to a negotiated text, which was first published this weekend by the Austrian weekly Profil, the FPÖ’s negotiating team has refused to include in the new government’s program a paragraph referring to the “continuation of the (Austrian) Israel policy as being raison d’Etat (Staatsräson).”
This policy was initiated by the former conservative chancellor Sebastian Kurz as a milestone change in the traditionally not-so-friendly, sometimes hostile, Austrian policy towards Israel. This change was one of the main guidelines of Kurz’s first government, which he formed with the FPÖ.
The conservative negotiating team wished to include in the future government’s program a further engagement to recognize Israel as being “a Jewish and democratic state” and to avoid supporting initiatives and resolutions brought in international organizations that contradict this recognition.
The FPÖ refused. It also blocks the idea of building an Austrian Holocaust Museum and adjusting the financial governmental aid to the local Jewish community to the high inflation rate. While the FPÖ was in Madrid achieving well-needed international recognition from the Likud as part of the PfE in Vienna, it was refusing to recognize Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, thus putting an end to the pro-Israeli legacy of Kurz.
Now, is it wise to seek to broaden Israeli contacts with the PfE? Certainly. It is today the third largest political group within the European Parliament, an institution mostly hostile toward Israel. Some of the parties within this political group fully support Israel – such as Hungary’s Fidesz, Italy’s Lega, the Dutch Party for Freedom, and Spain’s VOX. Even the French Rassemblement National has adopted, since the massacres and terrorist invasion of October 7, a clear pro-Israel stand.
But the FPÖ’s positions remain very problematic. Giving it an international legitimation for free is not only unwise. It is highly counterproductive and does not in any way serve Israel’s interests. The Likud could have used its excellent connections with many members of the Patriots group to influence the PFÖ’s positions on many issues that matter to Israel. Now it’s too late.