Austria - 2012
Parties that express xenophobic discourse in the form of hate speech or promote an anti-migrant and/or anti-minority agenda
- Code:
- RED34
- Key Area:
- Political Parties-organisations - Racist & Xenophobic Discourse
- Strand(s):
- Racism
| Short Answer |
Especially the FPÖ and the BZÖ are said to express racist and xenophobic statements and sentiments. |
| Qualitative Info |
There are several parties which express racist and xenophobic statements and sentiments. The most prominent one is the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) which is known internationally for its xenophobic, racist, anti-islamic and anti-Semitic comments and speeches. The FPÖ was founded in 1956. Its predecessor was the Alliance of Independents (Verband der Unabhängigen) which was an association of various groups, it included amongst others former National Socialists. For a long time, the FPÖ received only about 6 per cent of the votes for the elections of the National Assembly (1956: 6.5 per cent, 1966: 5.4 per cent, 1975: 5.4 per cent, 1983: 5.0 per cent). In 1986 Jörg Haider became the new party leader of the FPÖ. Since then the party attracted more and more voters (1986: 9.7 per cent, 18 seats out of 183 of the National Assembly; 1990: 16.6 per cent, 33 seats; 1994: 22.5 per cent, 42 seats; 1995: 22.0 per cent, 41 seats; 1999: 26.9 per cent, 52 seats). In 2000 the FPÖ formed a coalition with the Austrian Peoples Party (ÖVP) and was part of the government until 2006. During this time the FPÖ lost many voters (2002: 10.0 per cent, 18 seats; 2006: 11.0 per cent, 21 seats). In 2005 Jörg Haider left the FPÖ and founded a new party the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ). In April 2005 Heinz-Christian Strache became the new party leader of the FPÖ. Since then again the party atracted more and more voters (2008: 17.4 per cent, 34 seats of the National Assembly).
The Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) repeatedly expresses racist and xenophobic sentiments and discourse. The following incidents are some examples: In 1993, the FPÖ initiated a referendum “Österreich zuerst” (Austria First) demanding amongst others the inclusion of an article in the constitution that Austria is not an immigration country, a ban on immigration, an obligation to provide evidence of identity for foreigners at the work place, an increase of executive officers to improve the detection of “illegal” migrants, the immediate expulsion of migrant criminal offenders, the reduction of students with a first language other than German in schools and the establishment of a foundation in order to prevent migration. The referendum was supported by 416,531 persons, which means that the success was limited compared to other referenda. The referendum also caused enormous protest. A Lichtermeer (sea of light) was organised which was the biggest demonstration since 1945. In 2008, the city councillor of the city of Graz, Susanne Winter (now Member auf the Austrian Parliament), voiced xenophobic and anti-islamic sentiments during a new years meeting of the FPÖ. She said that Austria was struck by an immigration tsunami and that the Quran was written during an epileptic seizure. Furthermore she declared that child abuse was wide spread among Muslims. In 2009 Winter was sentenced to a fine of 24,000 Euro and to three months on parole because of Verhetzung (racist incitement). In 2009, Martin Graf, member of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) and Third President of the National Council, fiercely attacked Mr Muzicant, the president of the Jewish Faith Community. In a comment for the FPÖ party paper (Neue Freie Zeitung), he posed the question whether Mr Muzicant should not be regarded as the “foster father of anti-fascist leftist terrorism”. This was a reaction to Mr Muzicant’s statement that he was reminded of Goebbels when listening to Mr Kickl, the general secretary of the FPÖ. Mr Graf also called into question the anti-fascist fundamental consensus of Austrian post-WWII politics. The FPÖ expresses racist and xenophobic sentiments and discourse especially during election campaigns: The Dokumentationsarchiv des Österreichischen Widerstandes (Documentation Centre of Austrian Residence) documented a selection of xenophobic, anti-Semitic and racist statements by members of the FPÖ. However, it stopped its documentation in 2001. The report of the German Office of the Protection of the Constitution also mentions the FPÖ several times. It especially refers to the anti-Islamic sentiments of the Party.
Although the FPÖ is the party which is said to express and spread racist or xenophopic sentiments and statements most frequently there are also other parties which voice such sentiments repeatedly. The Alliance of the Future of Austria (BZÖ) was founded by former FPÖ-party leader Jörger Haider in 1995 and managed to gain seats in the National Assembly in 2006 (4.1 per cent, 7 seats) and 2008 (10.7 per cent, 21 seats). Representatives of the BZÖ are said to express racist and xenophobic statements repeatedly. For example the Carinthian Governor Gerhard Dörfler, member of the Alliance of the Future of Austrian (BZÖ), was reported to have made racist comments during a press conference for the ORF programme “Wenn die Musi spielt”. The BZÖ politician received the crooner Robert Blanco by telling a racist joke. The incident was discussed in several media. The Carinthian SPÖ made public a few days later that Dörfler had also told Blanco to “wash his face now and again,” and demanded a public apology for these discriminatory comments. The BZÖ denied the second incident in a press release; an apology for the racist joke was not forthcoming. Dörfler himself dismissed the criticism as “artificially stirred up.” He had told the joke “in a spirit of fun” and it was not intended to be insulting. “Should we ban the children's book ‘Ten Little N...[*]’ in Carinthia?” he asked the Austrian Media Agency (APA). Blanco commented in a newspaper interview, calling it, “a harmless joke, that I don't find discriminatory." The ECRI Report on Austria (2010) points at some worrying developments. First of all it is concerned about the advance of far-right parties, which are openly exploiting prejudices against minorities, immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, Jews and Muslims. It especially refers to statements and speeches during election campaign, which stigmatise in particular migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and Muslims and recommends to the Austrian authorities to systematically condemn all forms of racism, xenophobia and antisemitism in political discourse. It also suggests to adopt measures to combat the use of racially inflammatory or xenophobic discours by political parties or their representatives. Sources:
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| Parties | |
| Size - Membership | |
| Electoral power | |
| Groups affected/interested | Migrants, Refugees, Muslims, Ethnic minorities, Religious minorities, Linguistic minorities, Asylum seekers |
| Type (R/D) | Extremism - organised Racist Violence, Anti-migrant/xenophobia, Anti-semitism, Islamophobia, Afrophobia, Arabophobia, Religious intolerance, Inter-ethnic, Nationalism |
| Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas | Political discourse -parties - orgs |
| External Url | |
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