Austria could soon have a first far-right leader since 1945
Herbert Kickl of the Freedom Party could be the next head of government
Hundreds of protesters gathered on January 6th in front of Vienna’s imperial Hofburg palace. These days, as well as being a vast museum, it is the residence and office of Austria’s president, and the protesters were crying “Nazi Raus!” and “Van der Bellen, kick him out!” In one of its resplendent rooms, adorned with patterned red fabric wallpaper and a prominently displayed portrait of Empress Maria Theresa, Alexander Van der Bellen, Austria’s president, was meeting Herbert Kickl, the leader of the hard-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), to ask him to try to form Austria’s next government.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “An awkward conundrum, 80 years on”
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