Herbert Kickl, leader of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), the front-runner in the polls for months, chose to campaign for the Austrian parliamentary elections being held on Sunday, September 29 by sidestepping most interview requests from mainstream media. On September 14, however, he spoke for almost an hour on the conspiracy-theory WebTV channel AUF1. Founded during the Covid-19 pandemic by an activist close to identitarian circles, this Linz-based channel has become an influential platform throughout the German-speaking world for the most radical anti-vax, pro-Russian and anti-immigration ideas.
Questioned by an obsequious presenter about his support for "patriotic NGOs," the ultra-radical 55-year-old leader of Austria's far right defended on camera the role "of civil society" in "liberating [the country] from the rule of the self-proclaimed elite cartel." Although he didn't directly name the identitarian movement, it was clear that Kickl, who is polling at around 27%, was once again sending a message to supporters of the racist and conspiratorial "Great Replacement Theory": If he wins, they can count on him. For months now, their leader, Martin Sellner, founder of the Identitarian Movement of Austria, has been openly campaigning for the FPÖ on social media.
In his program, Kickl openly adopts the distinct vocabulary of this movement, stating his intention to turn his small nation of 9 million inhabitants into a "fortress" where "the right to asylum will be stopped." He also advocates "remigration," to restore Austria's "homogeneous people." Pressed to clarify his intentions, Kickl mentioned the idea of revoking nationality from any naturalized citizen "who attacks our values," but some of his candidates went so far as to mention "remigration" (meaning the return to their country of origin) of "schoolchildren who disrespect" their teachers, or even simple "riff raff."
This closeness goes back a long way. In 2021, just two days after becoming head of the FPÖ, Kickl announced that he would allow members of the identitarian movement to join the party, breaking from the policies of his predecessors and his French allies in the Rassemblement National, who keep their distance from the toxic movement. He has consistently defended the identitarians as a 'simple right-wing NGO' whose 'project is interesting and worthy of support. While serving as interior minister from 2017 to 2019, this short, bespectacled man also pressured Austrian intelligence services to stop monitoring their activities.
You have 59.48% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.