Vienna tries to allay Brussels’ fears over looming far-right government
Damage control
Austria’s caretaker chancellor Alexander Schallenberg is in Brussels today, aiming to assure EU chiefs that Vienna will remain a reliable partner even if its next government is led by a far-right politician with a penchant for Nazi slogans, writes Alice Hancock.
Context: Earlier this month, Austria’s centre-right chancellor Karl Nehammer stepped down after months-long coalition talks among centrist parties fell apart. That meant the far-right, pro-Russian Freedom party (FPÖ), which won most votes in September’s elections but had been sidelined from the negotiations, was asked to form the next government.
The country’s likely next leader, therefore, is the FPÖ’s Herbert Kickl, a divisive figure who has borrowed language from Austria’s dark Nazi past to boost his campaign.
Schallenberg, who served as foreign minister in the previous government, will meet European Council president António Costa and European parliament chief Roberta Metsola, as well as the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas. The aim? To assuage their concerns about an Austrian tilt further to the right and towards Russia, potentially hindering EU support for Ukraine and blocking sanctions against Moscow.
“The EU is a guarantor of peace and security for Austria,” Schallenberg told the Financial Times in advance of his visit. “This is firmly anchored in the consciousness of the Austrian people.”
“When it comes to foreign and security as well as European policy, one can rely on Austria,” Schallenberg added. “We will continue to actively and constructively engage on a European and international level. This is all the more important in volatile times.”
Schallenberg’s ÖVP is likely to be the junior partner in an FPÖ-led governing coalition, although he has excluded himself from taking part in the next government.
Kickl’s ascent comes at a critical time for Brussels as it seeks to maintain support for core policies such as fighting climate change and supporting Kyiv in its fight against Moscow, amid the rise of far-right parties fanned by foreign support, including from Russia and the US tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Slovakia’s Robert Fico has joined Hungary’s Viktor Orbán in showing an increasingly open attitude to co-operation with Moscow, while different shades of far-right parties are also governing in countries such as Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands.