Europe’s elites are visibly shaken by the fact that yet another democratically elected right-wing government will upset the balance of power and challenge liberal leaders on their failed policies.
“Barbarians at Europe’s gate”; a “pro-Russian axis”; and “demolishing democracy”—comments from Western European liberal politicians and their affiliated media paint the imminent rise to power of the Austrian right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ) as the emergence of tyrannical rule, with Europe at risk of descending into the Middle Ages.
FPÖ’s leader Herbert Kickl was tasked with forming a government on Monday, January 6th. It is expected that his party will enter into a coalition with the centre-right People’s Party (ÖVP). Austrians clearly want a change—that is why more than half of them voted for a two-party conservative government that would be tough on immigration, crack down on crime, repair the economy, and get rid of the ridiculous climate policies imposed by the EU.
An FPÖ-led government will join the ranks of Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Giorgia Meloni in Italy, Robert Fico in Slovakia, and the Geert Wilders-led cabinet in the Netherlands as part of a new wave of patriotic leadership in Europe. These leaders aim to defend their respective countries’ sovereignty and work together to push back against Brussels’ centralization plans and ideological overreach. And this is what is scaring the political establishment in Europe as they see a rise in patriotic parties all across the continent.
Western European politicians and their affiliated media have already started to sound the alarm bells over Herbert Kickl’s imminent rise to the position of chancellor.
In Germany, where another right-wing anti-globalist party, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is on course to finish second in February’s national elections, Lars Klingbeil, the co-leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), called the FPÖ “right-wing extremist” and Kickl Russian president “Putin’s friend.” Klingbeil called on the German Christian Democrats (CDU) to distance themselves from their Austrian counterpart, ÖVP, for agreeing to form a coalition with Kickl.
Under its previous leader Karl Nehammer, the ÖVP, along with all other Austrian parties, had refused to cooperate with the FPÖ. A similar cordon sanitaire exists in Germany, where the AfD is vilified and isolated by all the other parties.
“Conservatives would rather govern with fascists in Austria than tax the super-rich,” moaned another German party, the far-left Die Linke, which criticised the ÖVP for not being willing to reach a coalition deal with the Austrian Social Democrats who wanted to introduce new taxes on wealth and inheritance.
The German Green Party’s nominee for chancellor, Robert Habeck, also warned that what is happening in Austria should never be repeated in Germany—namely, a deal with the AfD.
Another Green politician, a regular, outspoken critic of Viktor Orbán, MEP Daniel Freund, warned that if Kickl goes down the path of Orbán and “demolishes democracy,” there will be no more EU funding for Austria. Both Hungary and the previous conservative government of Poland were denied EU funds under a rule-of-law pretext, and the nationalist Slovakian government has also been threatened with similar action if it doesn’t adhere to ‘EU values.’
A high-ranking politician from the centre-right Christian Social Union (CSU), Alexander Dobrindt, gave a more sobering assessment of the situation in Austria, saying that “radical parties” are “increasingly capable of winning a majority,” and that that should be a warning sign for the parties of the centre that they have failed in their policies.
The liberal media is also up in arms. Brussels insider Euractiv is panicking about the rise of the FPÖ, “one of the most potent anti-immigrant, pro-Russian parties in Europe,” warning that “Austrian barbarians” are “at Europe’s gate.” The article adds that it “will become much more difficult” to maintain a cordon sanitaire around “extremists” when they begin winning elections, just like the FPÖ has done in Austria.
One would of course assume that winning elections in a democracy is a reflection of the will of the electorate, and empowers the winning party to try and form a government—but the liberal media seem to think otherwise.
A similar interpretation was provided by another Brussels outlet, EUobserver, which says that “in the end, mainstream parties once again paved the way for the far-right to power.” In other words: establishment parties were right to block the victorious party from entering government.
The EU institutions’ favourite Brussels media outlet Politico says it is “bad news for Europe” that “together with Orbán and Fico, Kickl is likely to block key EU initiatives—from the Green Deal to migration to Ukraine.” Evidently, standing up for their country’s national interests, and vetoing EU decisions they perceive to be harmful is something that European governments shouldn’t be doing, according to the elites in Brussels.