Chancellor won’t rein in far right

Der Standard

The far right has been in government in Austria for a mere three months, but it has already caused a major scandal, said Eric Frey. The Freedom Party—founded by former Nazis after World War II—is the junior member in the coalition led by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s center-right People’s Party and has been given control of the Interior Ministry. Last week, the “power-mad” Interior Minister Herbert Kickl abruptly fired Peter Gridling, the respected chief of our main domestic intelligence agency, and sent a police squad to raid his home and confiscate computers and documents. As head of the intelligence agency for the past decade, Gridling was responsible for investigating

the activities of Austrian far-right extremist groups. So his abrupt removal by a far-right party looks extraordinarily suspicious. The Freedom Party now holds all intelligence related to its extremist allies, possibly including the names of informants who have been helping the authorities. What has Chancellor Kurz done about this attack on a crucial guardian of our nation? Nothing. Apparently he doesn’t want to “shame his coalition partner” or “destroy the appearance of unity” within his government. But it’s too late. Kurz, at 31 our youngest-ever chancellor, now “appears weak.” And the Freedom Party looks “power hungry and perfidious.”