THE TELEGRAPH: As Austrians head to the polls on Sunday, an economic downturn coupled with rising anti-immigrant feeling makes a swing to the right look all but inevitable.
Surveys on the eve of the Sept 28 general elections show the far-right Freedom Party and the Alliance for Austria's Future capturing between 25 and 27 per cent of the vote–something unmatched since Jörg Haider led extreme rightists to a 27 per cent victory in 1999.
Now, with inflation at a 15-year-high of 3.9 per cent and a resurgent xenophobia helping stir voter passions, the country is teetering in political uncertainty.
"Xenophobic feelings are a lot stronger in Austria than in other EU countries," said Helmut Weixler, European parliamentary spokesperson for the Greens.
"A large part of the population has problems [accepting] immigration, and guys like Haider and [Heinz-Christian] Strache exploit those populist feelings. They're very good at that."
Mr Strache, who is 39 and the new face of Austria's virulently anti-foreigner right wing–his Freedom Party promotes slogans like "Vienna must not become Istanbul!" and "Home instead of Islam"–made great strides in elections in 2006 calling for Austria to expel all illegal immigrants and close the doors to new arrivals.
Particularly effective in whipping up the public's fear of foreigners is Kronen Zeitung, an arch-right tabloid run by Hans Dichand that reaches some 40 per cent of the population and wields enormous political influence. Far-right to Do Well in Austrian Elections >>> By Michael Levitin in Berlin | September 27, 2008
TIME:
Austria’s Far-Right on the Rise >>> By Andrew Purvis | September 19, 2008
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