Trump win has Austrians snapping to attention
Europe braces for first far-right premier since World War 2
THE only rust in Burgenland on a crisp November morning is in the colours of the woods and long grasses in the rolling Austrian landscape. But this region could prove for Austria’s far right what the depressed Rust Belt towns in the US Midwest were to Donald Trump: the epicentre of a populist political earthquake.
Burgenland is a stronghold of Norbert Hofer, the candidate of the Freedom Party, the far-right nationalist movement originally formed in the ’50s by former Nazis. His election would send shock waves through Europe, making him Europe’s first farright head of state since World War 2 and raising fears about the rise of nationalist parties in France and Germany.
Burgenland, which attracts tourists to its golf courses and spas, shows how Trump’s election as US president is casting shadows in far-off places.
Enjoying the wintry sun outside Esterházy palace in Eisenstadt, the region’s capital, Ute, a retired office worker, fears the Trump phenomenon will influence her country’s election for a new head of state next Sunday.
“I’m convinced of it,” she said. “People here are unhappy. Unfortunately, the focus is on the immigration issue, but it is a general unhappiness.”
A native of Burgenland, Hofer is no maverick publicity-seeking businessman. A former aircraft engineer, his political career began in the province more than 20 years ago.
He won 61% of the vote in the region when the election for Austrian president was run originally in May, more than in any of Austria’s other eight provinces. SHADOW: The Freedom Party was formed by former Nazis
Nationally, he was just beaten by Alexander Van der Bellen, a Green Party politician who ran as an independent. But the result was declared invalid by Austria’s constitutional court after irregularities in the counting of postal votes.
The re-run will be a test of European support for rightwing populism in the Trump era. “I fear [Hofer’s vote] will be at least as high,” Ute said.
Outside the baroque Esterházy palace, not everyone is convinced the US election will help Hofer.
“It could be that Trump has worried a lot of people and has persuaded them to vote for the safe option,” said David, a farmer.
“Why should Trump have an impact here? He is not like Hofer,” added Hakan, a marketing executive on a business trip from Linz. But like Trump, Austria’s Freedom Party has seen support surge on the back of worries over immigration as well as weak economic growth.
Memories of Europe’s migration crisis last year are still fresh. Streams of refugees outnumbered Burgenland’s 300 000 SUPER’S NEPHEW: Mzi Zuma is a regional secretary of the ANC in Pietermaritzburg INDICTMENT: Supporters of the Offensive Against Law protest against the ideals of far-right Freedom Party presidential candidate Norbert Hofer, in Vienna, Austria population as they fled wars in countries such as Syria, although most headed for Germany. At one of the darkest moments of the crisis, 71 migrants were found dead in a truck abandoned near Parndorf in Burgenland.
Burgenland’s border position means “it has a long history of immigration, but the mood has become more emotional and voting for the Freedom Party is no longer taboo”, said Peter Wagner, a theatre director, who opens a dramatisation of the Parndorf deaths in January. “I fear that will help Hofer.”
Security topped local voters’ concerns, said Johann Tschürtz, the Freedom Party’s deputy governor of Burgenland. “It was a big problem with the refugee question, and it’s also a problem because Hungary is nearby and there are lots of burglaries.”
Burgenland, he said, mirrored US politics with a popular rejection of “elites”, which in this case means Vienna, the Austrian capital 50km away.
“All the actors, the artists in Vienna are against Hofer. The ordinary voters don’t like that.”
The extended election campaign had helped Hofer, Tschürtz said.
The longer the Freedom Party candidate was known, the more he was seen as “down-toearth and authentic”.
Tschürtz joined the Freedom Party as a “fan” of Jörg Haider, its charismatic leader who gained international prominence in the ’90s with his xenophobic rhetoric. When the Freedom Party joined the federal government in 2000, Austria was ostracised by other European countries because of Haider’s association with far-right German nationalism.
Today Tschürtz laughs off Haider’s extremist image. “Trump is five times as excessive,” he said.
Burgenland is also the poorest Austrian region and the only one with GDP per capita below the EU average. Traditionally it was a heartland of Austria’s Social Democrats, who have governed the province since 1964.
Local support for Hofer was surprising and showed the weakness of Austria’s mainstream parties, said Manfred Gerger, president of the Burgenland Industrial Federation.
He worries about the impact of a Freedom Party victory next weekend on Austria’s exportoriented industries. “It will not throw the right light on Austria,” he said.
To shore up their local control, the Social Democrats struck a controversial coalition deal last year making the Freedom Party a junior partner in the Burgenland government. Having a role in government had eased voters’ “prejudices” against the party, said Tschürtz. That could make voting for Hofer appear less risky, even after Trump’s success.
Wolfgang Weisgram, a local correspondent for Der Standard newspaper, said: “In comparison with Trump, Norbert Hofer is a serious politician.” — © The Financial Times
It is emotional and voting for the Freedom party is no longer taboo