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143-524: A long-time member of The Greens – The Green Alternative , Peter Pilz was among the first delegation of Greens deputies elected to the National Council in 1986, and served as the party's spokesman between 1992 and 1994. At the federal convention of The Greens in June 2017, he sought election for fourth place on the federal party list for the upcoming election. However, he lost to Julian Schmid. He

286-656: A Member of the European Parliament (MEP). The results in Innsbruck were particularly good: there the Green party received 28.28%, which made it the strongest party, even before the Christian-democratic ÖVP and the social-democratic SPÖ. The Greens were able to score on a number of issues that they have been fighting for years. Besides the social topics above all the problems of transit traffic over

429-647: A ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war , stating, "As long as the terrorists of Hamas hold Israeli hostages captive, a ceasefire is unlikely", though he supported an Austrian role in negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians for a two-state solution . Strache, at about the same time, said he wanted to meet with the front figures of the American Tea Party movement (which he described as "highly interesting"). He has also declared himself "a friend of

572-464: A citizens' democracy". The party wanted to provide more referendums , directly elect the federal chancellor, significantly reduce the number of ministries, and devolve power to the federal states and local councils. Surveys have shown that anti-establishment positions were one of the top reasons for voters to vote for the FPÖ. Its anti-establishment position proved incompatible with being in government during

715-521: A diplomatic boycott of Austria, the other fourteen European Union (EU) countries introduced sanctions after the government had been formed; other than formal EU meetings, contacts with Austria were reduced. The measures were justified by the EU, which stated that "the admission of the FPÖ into a coalition government legitimises the extreme right in Europe." The party had been kept on the sidelines for most of

858-646: A members meeting or a delegates meeting. Similar to the federal executive, there are federal state executives ( Landesvorstände ). The party charter also allows for each federal state group to hold a vote on basic issues as well that affect the whole party. Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria ( German : Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs , FPÖ ) is a political party in Austria, variously described as far-right , right-wing populist , national-conservative , eurosceptic and russophile . It has been led by Herbert Kickl since 2021. It

1001-455: A month. It takes care of the implementation of the party-guidelines, which were set by the party congress. It also chooses the representatives of the party spokesperson. The highest office in the party is that of the federal spokesperson (Bundessprecher). The party's federal spokesman is Werner Kogler . The federal state organisations ( Landesorganisationen ) are organised similarly: There are federal state meetings, which sometimes convene as

1144-401: A participatory fashion, with anyone interested given the opportunity to engage in the discussion. Pilz called for public funding of political parties to be halved, and financed his campaign using voluntary donations. He stated the party's goal for the election was to win a double-digit percentage of votes. The party ultimately won 4.4% of the electorate with 223,543 votes, and secured 8 seats in

1287-510: A prominent part in Austrian campaigns. The party published only one poster, a blank page with text reading: "1 poster - our only one! / 0 EUR tax money / 0 pestering / Yes, it works!" and a link to the party's website. The party campaigned heavily on social media , as well as through various media appearances. They promoted their candidates via public functions and so-called "Pilz talks" concerning various policy areas. The events were conducted in

1430-548: A revival in the 2019 European election , in which they scored 14.1% and elected 2 MEPs. The election saw the collapse of JETZ. The party eventually later this year, experienced a strong recovery and performed better well leading up to the 2019 snap legislative election , the Greens returned to the National Council ( German : Nationalrat ) with their best ever result in a legislative election, scoring 13.9% and electing 26 MPs, an upswing of 10.2% from 2017. The chart below shows

1573-420: A rightward shift that commenced in 1986, the FPÖ was a broadly liberal party whose ideology comprised national liberalism , pan-Germanism and anti-clericalism , with a significant classical-liberal minority faction; it was classified as a centre -to- centre-right party, and was considered the Austrian counterpart of Germany's Free Democratic Party (FDP). The FPÖ has traditionally been part of

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1716-478: A third of that coming from a single donation of €98,365 from party candidate Alfred J. Noll. The second largest donation came from candidate Renée Schroeder with €20,000. In the last quarter of 2017, the Pilz list received €812,121 in public funding due to its three National Council deputies. From 2018, it received €4.8 million in party and public funding. After JETZT failed to win seats in the 2019 legislative election,

1859-513: A timeline of the Green chairpersons and the Chancellors of Austria . The left green bar shows all the chairpersons ( Bundessprecher , abbreviated as "Chair.") of the Green party, and the right bar shows the corresponding make-up of the Austrian government at that time. The red (SPÖ), black (ÖVP), and light grey (Independent) colours correspond to which party led the federal government ( Bundesregierung , abbreviated as "Govern."). The last names of

2002-517: A vehicle for them to integrate in the Second Republic; the party was a welcome partner with both the SPÖ and ÖVP in regional and local politics, although it was excluded at the national level. The ÖVP and the FPÖ ran a joint candidate for the 1957 presidential election, who lost. Reinthaller was replaced as leader in 1958 by Friedrich Peter (also a former SS officer), who led the party through

2145-786: Is a green political party in Austria . The Greens are in a coalition with the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) in the Nehammer government . Before they were part of the Schallenberg government and the Second Kurz government . The current President of Austria , Alexander Van der Bellen , is from the Green Party. The party was founded in 1986 under the name "Green Alternative" ( Grüne Alternative ), following

2288-651: Is a member of the European Green Party and Global Greens . In 1978 the Austrian Green movement began with the successful campaign to prevent the opening of the nuclear power plant in Zwentendorf (which had been favoured by Bruno Kreisky 's government), the Green Party was born in 1984 during the sit-in protests which prevented the Danube power plant at Hainburg from being built. In

2431-604: Is the Die Grünen - Alternative Liste Graz party for the federal state capital Graz . In the Graz city-council the Greens are represented by Sigi Binder, Lisa Rücker, Hermann Candussi and Christina Jahn. Styria has the largest Austrian Green youth organization in Austria, called Grüne Jugend Steiermark (Green Youth Styria). Beside the Green Youth Styria there also exists Austria's first Green students' organization,

2574-571: Is the Federal Congress (Bundeskongress), which convenes at least once a year. All federal state organisations send delegates, also the immigrants-organisation is allowed to send delegates as "the tenth Austrian state ". The Federal Congress decides the electoral lists for the National Council elections and elections to the European parliament . The congress also elects the federal spokesperson ( BundesprecherIn ). The congress also decides

2717-462: Is the common platform of the Greens in Salzburg municipality . Like many other autonomous municipal groups it carries its own name. The Styrian Greens have three delegates sitting in the federal state assembly, federal state spokesperson Lambert Schönleitner, Sandra Krautwaschl, and Lara Köck. There are two independent Greens parties: on the one hand the federal state party, on the other hand there

2860-511: Is the largest of five parties in the National Council , with 57 of the 183 seats, and won 28.85% of votes cast in the 2024 election and it is represented in all nine state legislatures . On a European level, the FPÖ is a founding member of the Patriots.eu (originally the Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom) and its six MEPs sit with the Patriots for Europe (PfE) group following

3003-520: The Anschluss of Austria into Nazi Germany , the national liberal camp (which had always striven for an inclusion of Austria into a Greater Germany ) had been swallowed whole by Austrian National Socialism , and all other parties were eventually absorbed into Nazi totalitarianism. Both Socialists and Christian Socials were persecuted under the Nazi regime, and the national liberal camp was scarred after

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3146-473: The 1970 election and joined Fred Sinowatz 's government, as the SPÖ's junior partner, after the 1983 election . Jörg Haider became leader of the party in 1986, after which it began an ideological turn towards right-wing populism. This resulted in a strong surge in electoral support, but also led the SPÖ to break ties, and a splinter in the form of the Liberal Forum in 1993. In the 1999 election ,

3289-468: The 1986 parliamentary elections the Green Party started off with 4.82% of all votes cast and entered parliament with eight National Council mandates. In the early elections to National Council in 2002 , the Green Party nationwide received 9.47% of votes, and won 17 mandates to the National Council. At that time, it was the highest number of votes garnered by any European Green party. When

3432-567: The Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ), which replaced the FPÖ as governing partner. Heinz-Christian Strache then became leader, and the party gradually regained its popularity, peaking at 26.0% in the 2017 election . The FPÖ once again became junior partner in government with the ÖVP. In May 2019, the Ibiza affair led to the collapse of the government and the resignation of Strache from both

3575-578: The Alps was important. The Tyrolean Greens have experts on traffic issues with MEP Eva Lichtenberger, the national speaker and club chairperson Georg Willi and the speaker of group of regional of Innsbruck Gerhard Fritz. The issue of transit traffic through the Tyrol is of great importance, because the state is troubled by the massive transit traffic between Germany and Italy over the Brenner Pass . Since

3718-612: The Bezirksvorsteher (mayor of the district). The results of 2001 also allowed the Viennese Greens to nominate Stefan Schennach as federal councilor to the Upper House of Parliament ( Bundesrat ). But despite the strong gains, the Greens were not able to enter into a coalition government with the SPÖ, since the social-democrats were able to win an absolute majority. The 2004 European Parliament election were

3861-603: The Communist Party of Austria ) and later experiencing a split of Peter Pilz 's faction, forming the Peter Pilz List . The 2017 legislative election saw a collapse for the party, scoring only 3.8% and losing its representation in the Nationalrat for the first time since 1986. Following the results, party spokesman Ingrid Felipe resigned from her post and was replaced by Werner Kogler . The party saw

4004-536: The ECO Students . In Tyrol the Greens (official name: Die Grünen – die Grüne Alternative Tirol ) were able to win seats and placed in 1994 Eva Lichtenberger as Austria's first Green state councillor in a local government, responsible for environmental affairs. The 2003 Tyrolean Landtag (state assembly) elections were the best ever for the Austrian Greens, winning 15.59% of all votes cast. In

4147-501: The Freedom Party of Austria , 10,000 from the Austrian People's Party , 8,000 from Team Stronach , 6,000 from the Alliance for the Future of Austria , and 20,000 from other parties. The seats were filled by Peter Pilz, Bruno Rossmann, Wolfgang Zinggl, Daniela Holzinger-Vogtenhuber, Alfred J. Noll, Stephanie Cox, Alma Zadić, and Peter Kolba. In early November 2017, Die Presse published statements from an anonymous employee of

4290-573: The Iraq War ; he subsequently condemned US foreign policy and derided George W. Bush as not being very different from Hussein. This move was strongly criticised by the FPÖ, which was part of the then-current government. Nevertheless, in the mid- to late 2000s, the FPÖ too criticised US foreign policy as promoted by Bush, which it saw as leading to increased levels of violence in the Middle East. The party also became more critical of Israel's part in

4433-459: The Koran . During the period of ÖVP-FPÖ government, many amendments were introduced to tighten the country's immigration policies. The number of new asylum applications, for example, was reduced from 32,000 in 2003 to 13,300 in 2006. From the mid-1980s, the concept of Heimat (a word meaning both "the homeland" and a more general notion of cultural identity) has been central to the ideology of

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4576-488: The Kärntner Abwehrkampf (Carinthian defensive struggle) following World War I , and subsequent anti-Slavic sentiment arising from a fear of being taken over by Yugoslavia . Encouraged by the mass media , a struggle soon developed between Steger and Haider over the future of the party. In the 1985 Reder case, for instance, Haider staunchly supported FPÖ Minister of Defence Friedhelm Frischenschlager when

4719-622: The Lower Austrian Greens were represented with two delegates in the federal state assembly. In the federal state elections in 2003 the Greens received 7.22% and thus won four mandates, which enabled them to form a parliamentary group - called club in Austrian politics - in the assembly. With Madeleine Petrovic , the Lower Austrian Greens have a former federal spokeswoman and one of the most outspoken animal activists of Austria as their leader ( Klubobfrau ). In 2005

4862-669: The University of Innsbruck . The communal elections of 2004 brought a doubling of the mandates for the Tyrolean Greens. City elections in Innsbruck in 2006 were a success for the Greens and they gained 8 of the 40 seats in the parliament of Innsbruck . In the elections to the European parliament the Tyrolean Greens obtained 17.32%, their best result until then. Eva Lichtenberger subsequently changed her position to become

5005-632: The Upper Austrian Greens successfully entered the Upper Austrian Landtag (state assembly) for the first time. After the state elections in 2003 (state elections in Upper Austria are held every six years, not five like in the other states), the Greens were able to win even more seats. The campaign was already aimed at gaining ministerial seats in the state government. Since the conservative Christian-democratic ÖVP

5148-612: The interwar era , the national liberal camp (gathered in the Greater German People's Party ) fought against the mutually hostile Christian Social and Marxist camps in their struggles to structure the new republic according to their respective ideologies. After a short civil war , the Fatherland Front established the Federal State of Austria , an Austrofascist dictatorship, in 1934. By 1938, with

5291-793: The "national liberal" camp, and generally identifies with a freiheitlich (libertarian) profile. However, since the rise to party leadership of Jörg Haider in 1986, the FPÖ departed from liberalism and left the Liberal International (of which it had been a member since 1978), causing the split of the Liberal Forum , and has variously been described as national-conservative , right-wing populist , "right-conservative", "right-national" and far-right . Leading current party members such as Andreas Mölzer and Harald Vilimsky have considered themselves as national liberal " cultural Germans ", while Barbara Rosenkranz has considered her ideology as national conservative. Under

5434-431: The "rightward drift" of other parties on the left. He stated the party could target "older, male, left-wing segments of the electorate with a critical emphasis on social issues and immigration and Islam, who may currently feel less wooed by the Greens." By design, the party did not have a binding platform or party line; during the 2017 election campaign, the party's website stated, "Our candidates are our programmes." During

5577-458: The 1960s and 1970s and moved it towards the political centre. In 1966, the ÖVP–SPÖ Grand Coalition , which had governed Austria since the war was broken, was ended when the ÖVP gained enough votes to govern alone. SPÖ leader Bruno Kreisky (himself a Jew) defended Peter's past and initiated a political relationship—and a personal friendship—with Peter; in 1970 the FPÖ was, for the first time, able to tolerate an SPÖ minority government . In 1967

5720-400: The 1983 election result was the worst for the FPÖ in its history (it received slightly less than 5% of the vote), and during the next few years the party saw 2–3% support—or even less—in opinion polls. As a consequence, the party was soon torn by internal strife. In 1983, the right-wing Jörg Haider took over the leadership of the FPÖ's significant Carinthia branch. Its importance dated to

5863-451: The 1986 National Convention in Innsbruck , the internal struggle developed into an open conflict; this led Haider to victory as new FPÖ party leader with 58% of the vote, supported by conservative and pan-German factions. However, incoming SPÖ Chancellor Franz Vranitzky —who also entered office in 1986—had strong negative feelings towards Haider, who he felt was too far-right . Vranitzky subsequently announced an election in 1986 , in

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6006-407: The 1999 election. It was leading every other party until Sebastian Kurz became the leader of the ÖVP, and polling still predicted it would reach second place. Despite the FPÖ's decline in support during the election campaign, it still achieved an ideological victory as Austria's governing parties, particularly the ÖVP under Kurz but also the SPÖ, shifted noticeably to the right, adopting much of

6149-440: The 2002 " Knittelfeld Putsch " after strong attacks by Haider, which led to new elections being called. In the subsequent election campaign, the party was deeply divided and unable to organise an effective political strategy. It changed leaders five times in less than two months, and in the 2002 general election decreased its share of the vote to 10.2%, almost two-thirds less than its previous share. Most of its voters sided with

6292-534: The 2004 federal state elections and could not achieve the desired club status of at least three mandates. As voter-current analyses showed, the small increases in votes were largely due to former voters of the Liberal Forum (LiF), which did not run in the Salzburg elections. In March 2009 they were down from 8% to 7.3%, keeping their two seats in Salzburg State's parliament. The Bürgerliste (Citizen List)

6435-629: The 2005 split, with the first tests in regional elections in Styria and Burgenland . On 23 April 2005 Heinz-Christian Strache was elected as new chairman of the FPÖ, taking over from interim leader Hilmar Kabas . As most of the party's office-seeking elite had gone over to the BZÖ, the FPÖ was again free from responsibility. Under Strache the party's ideology grew more radical, and it returned to its primary goal of vote-maximising. The FPÖ did reasonably well in that October's Vienna election , in which Strache

6578-572: The 2006 elections the Greens gained four seats and ended up with 21 seats and became the third largest party in Parliament, however did not have enough mandates to form a coalition government with either the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) or Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and became the largest opposition party, while the SPÖ and ÖVP formed a grand coalition government. The party suffered from internal struggles in 2017, losing its Youth wing (which split away and formed an ephemeral joint list with

6721-473: The 2017 election campaign, Kurier listed the "most important points" of the Pilz platform as: During the 2017 election campaign, the Peter Pilz List hosted a live list of all donations it received on its website. For donations over €1,000, the donor was required to give their name for the public record. The party received 1,359 donations totalling €289,644 in the year of its foundation, with almost

6864-458: The Austrian political system began to change; the dominance of the SPÖ and ÖVP started to erode, and the Austrian electorate began to swing to the right. SPÖ leader Bruno Kreisky had encouraged the FPÖ's move to the centre, in order to establish an SPÖ-FPÖ alliance against the ÖVP. The 1983 general election was a watershed; the SPÖ lost its absolute majority in Parliament, which resulted in the formation of an SPÖ-FPÖ "Small Coalition". Ironically,

7007-530: The Carinthian voting system requires a party to win a direct mandate in one of the four regional election districts, which effectively means a 10%- threshold in order to enter. Only in 2004 were the Carinthian Greens finally able to take their seats in the federal state assembly, where they are represented by cabaret artist Rolf Holub and Barbara Lesjak . On a regional level, for example in

7150-525: The FPÖ doubled its 2004 results, winning 12.8% of the vote and 2 seats. In December 2009 the local Carinthia branch of the BZÖ, its stronghold, broke away and founded the Freedom Party in Carinthia (FPK); it cooperated with the FPÖ at the federal level, modeling itself on the German CDU/CSU relationship. The leader of the branch, Uwe Scheuch, had fallen out with BZÖ leader Josef Bucher after

7293-415: The FPÖ had a support in opinion polls of around 24–29%—at par with the SPÖ and ÖVP, and above the BZÖ. Among people under 30 years of age, the FPÖ had the support of 42%. In the 2013 legislative election the party obtained 20.51% of votes, while BZÖ scored 3.53% and lost all of its seats. After the election SPÖ and ÖVP renewed their coalition and FPÖ remained in opposition. In June 2015 the main part of

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7436-501: The FPÖ had ties with several European political parties and groupings. Additionally, according to political analyst Thomas Hofer, the party's policies and brash style helped inspire like-minded parties across Europe. In 1978, under the party's liberal leadership, the FPÖ became a member of the Liberal International , which it left in 1993, forestalling its imminent exclusion. In the early years of Haider's leadership, around 1990, meetings were held with figures such as Jean-Marie Le Pen of

7579-682: The FPÖ left the Li (which was preparing to expel it). In turn, the LiF soon joined the Liberal International instead. In 1999, Haider was again elected Governor of Carinthia. In the 1999 general election the FPÖ won 27% of the votes, more than in any previous election—beating the ÖVP for the first time by a small margin. In February 2000, the ÖVP agreed to form a coalition government with the FPÖ. Normally, Haider should have become federal chancellor . However, it soon became apparent that Haider

7722-422: The FPÖ ministers left the party and on 4 April 2005 founded a new political party called the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ). Austria's chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel followed, changing his coalition with the FPÖ into cooperation with the BZÖ. In Haider's stronghold of Carinthia , the local FPÖ branch became the Carinthia branch of the BZÖ. The FPÖ fared much better than the BZÖ in polls following

7865-432: The FPÖ won 26.9% of the vote, becoming the second-most popular party, ahead of the ÖVP by around 500 votes. The two parties eventually reached a coalition agreement in which the ÖVP retained the office of chancellor. The FPÖ soon lost most of its popularity, falling to 10% in the 2002 election , but remained in government as junior partner. Internal tensions led Haider and much of the party leadership to leave in 2005, forming

8008-451: The FPÖ's invitation, Israeli Druze MK Ayoob Kara of the Likud party subsequently visited Vienna. After the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel , FPÖ leader Kickl expressed unequivocal support for Israel's right to self defense and called for Austria to advocate for Israel within the EU by opposing resolutions critical of Israel and supporting Israeli security measures. Kickl declined to back

8151-466: The FPÖ's policies. The FPÖ entered coalition talks with the ÖVP, and in December 2017, they reached an agreement and created a coalition government . The FPÖ gained control over six ministries, including defense, the interior, and foreign affairs. In mid-May 2019, secretly made footage was released, apparently showing Strache soliciting funds for the party from a purported Russian national. In

8294-497: The FPÖ, although its application has slightly changed with time. Initially, Heimat indicated the feeling of national belonging influenced by a pan-German vision; the party assured voters in 1985 that "the overwhelming majority of Austrians belong to the German ethnic and cultural community." Although it was noted then that Austria was the mother country which held the national traditions, this would later be favoured more explicitly over

8437-733: The French National Front and Franz Schönhuber of the German Republicans . In the late 1990s, however, he chose to distance himself from Le Pen, and refused to join Le Pen's EuroNat project. Following the FPÖ's entrance in government in 2000, Haider sought to establish his own alliance of right-wing parties. For his project, Haider tried to establish stable cooperations with the Vlaams Blok party in Belgium and

8580-413: The Greens and his intention to run his own electoral list for the election, named the "Peter Pilz List". An application for registration as a political party was submitted on 26 July and approved on 31 July. Pilz claimed that he did not intend to found a new political party; no party programme would be formulated, and there would be no party line. He said that registration as a party was necessary to gather

8723-470: The Greens parliamentary group accusing Peter Pilz of repeated sexual harassment and sexual assault , ranging from verbal harassment to groping . Subsequently, Falter published further allegations that an employee of the European People's Party was groped by Pilz at the 2013 European Forum Alpbach . Pilz denied all accusations, but announced on 4 November he would no longer accept his seat in

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8866-430: The Greens took their seats in parliament for the first time, they chose to appear somewhat unconventional. They initially refused to adapt their behaviour to that of the other parties; an example of this is their refusal to elect a chairperson ( Klubobmann/Klubobfrau ) and designated a puppet made out of straw instead. Delegates would appear in parliament dressed in casual wear such as jeans and trainers. Worldwide attention

9009-800: The Greens were able to nominate a second Green district-mayor. The second place was won in the districts of Leopoldstadt , Margareten , Mariahilf, Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus and Alsergrund . The Green delegates to the Viennese Gemeinderat or Landtag as of 2006 were: Maria Vassilakou (club-chairlady [ Klubobfrau ]), Waltraut Antonov , Heidi Cammerlander , Christoph Chorherr , Sabine Gretner , Susanne Jerusalem , Alev Korun , Rüdiger Maresch , Martin Margulies , Sigrid Pilz , Ingrid Puller , Marie Ringler , Marco Schreuder , Claudia Sommer-Smolik . The two city-councillors are David Ellensohn and Monika Vana . The 2010 results meant that

9152-508: The Israel–Palestine conflict. By 2010, under Heinz-Christian Strache's leadership, the party became more supportive of Israel . In December 2010, the FPÖ (along with the representatives of like-minded rightist parties) visited Israel, where they issued the "Jerusalem Declaration", which affirmed Israel's right to exist and defend itself, particularly against Islamic terror. The party also recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital. At

9295-463: The JETZT parliamentary group. In the election, JETZT garnered 89,169 votes (1.87%), less than half the number they had won in 2017, losing their representation in the National Council. Peter Pilz's former party, the Greens, re-entered parliament with their best ever result, winning 13.9% of votes cast and 26 seats. After the election, Stern and Pilz resigned. Carinthian former police officer Rudolf Mang

9438-580: The Lower Austrian Greens managed to win and take their seats in 100 municipal assemblies and as of 2005 had four vice-mayors. Their managing director in Lower Austria is Thomas Huber. After the federal state elections in 1989 the Salzburg State Greens had two mandates in the Salzburg federal state assembly, in 1994 three and in 1999 again two. Under the leadership of Cyriak Schwaighofer the Greens performed under their expectations in

9581-453: The National Council Doris Bures , and NEOS deputy Karin Doppelbauer . The party's relations with Martha Bißmann, who had taken up Pilz's original seat in November 2017, had become increasingly strained; by June 2018, the party was on the verge of expelling her. However, after discussions, on 12 June they granted her a "last chance". She resigned from the party, but remained in the Pilz List parliamentary group. On 10 July, Sebastian Bohrn Mena

9724-509: The National Council. On 8 November, he was replaced by Martha Bißmann . Peter Kolba subsequently became parliamentary leader of the party. On 18 December 2017, Kolba announced that the Pilz List would not run in the upcoming state elections in Carinthia , Lower Austria , Salzburg , and Tyrol . He stated the party wanted time to build as a movement, and that they planned to compete in the following European Parliament elections. On 14 January 2018, Kolba announced that Peter Pilz would return to

9867-411: The National Council. The Pilz List outperformed Pilz's former party, with the Greens falling short of the 4% electoral threshold , losing all their seats. Analysis by the SORA Institute showed that, compared to the 2013 election results, the Pilz List took 67,000 votes (30% of its total) from the Greens, 32,000 from the SPÖ, 31,000 from NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum and non-voters, 12,000 from

10010-415: The National Council. The timeframe for the move and who would resign to allow his re-entry was not clarified. This was strongly criticised by other parties, with the women's spokeswomen of both the SPÖ and NEOS stating the allegations against him were "not even partially cleared up". On 22 May 2018, the Innsbruck public prosecutor's office suspended its investigation of Peter Pilz for sexual harassment due to

10153-557: The Pilz list: Wolfgang Zinggl and Bruno Rossmann from The Greens and Daniela Holzinger-Vogtenhuber from the SPÖ. Their support allowed the party to bypass the threshold of 2,600 signatures normally required for ballot access in all nine states . In August, four more candidates were presented: Renée Schroeder and Hannes Werthner (for science policy), nursing assistant Teresa Roscher (for nursing), and lawyer Alma Zadić (for integration). The Pilz List carried out an unconventional campaign, eschewing posters which traditionally play

10296-417: The SPÖ and the ÖVP left both parties in opposition. In the 2008 general election both the FPÖ and the BZÖ rose significantly at the expense of the SPÖ and the ÖVP. Both parties increased their percentage of the vote by about 6.5%, with the FPÖ at 17.4% and the BZÖ at 10.7%— together gaining 28.2%, and thus both breaking the record vote for the FPÖ in the 1999 election. In the 2009 European Parliament election

10439-552: The SPÖ was unable to hold the majority of seats in the Vienna city council and therefore had to rule together with the Greens performing for the first time as coalition partner. The current vice-governor/vice-mayor of Vienna as of 26 June 2019 is Birgit Hebein . The results of the Viennese Gemeinderat elections: ran as Alternative Liste Wien (ALW) In 2004 the Greens had about 3,000 members nationwide, although at present there are no uniform regulations for membership. Apart from

10582-461: The Second Republic, except for its brief role in government in the 1980s. Along with the party's origins and its focus on issues such as immigration and questions of identity and belonging, the party had been subjected to a strategy of cordon sanitaire by the SPÖ and ÖVP. The EU sanctions were lifted in September after a report had found that the measures were effective only in the short term; in

10725-451: The Serbs", who constitute one of the largest immigrant groups in Austria. Siding with Serbia , the FPÖ rejects the independence of Kosovo . FPÖ also call to lift "damaging and pointless" international sanctions against Russia , approved by the EU. The party continues to oppose sanctions on Russian energy, calling for a national referendum on the issue. On 30 March 2023, lawmakers from

10868-523: The Tyrol sits right in between Germany and Italy, the bulk of the commercial traffic passes through there. This heavy-duty traffic has devastating effects on the fragile alpine environment and decreases the quality of life for the inhabitants. Since the entry to the European Union, Austria had to give up any quota limitations on how much international traffic coming from EU-countries is allowed to pass through its territory. The Tyrolean Greens accused

11011-509: The alleged victims' inability to press charges. On 15 April 2018, Kolba announced his pending resignation as parliamentary leader, which was later delayed due to lack of agreement on a new leader. On 30 May, Bruno Rossmann was chosen to succeed Kolba. On 31 May, Kolba announced his immediate resignation from the National Council, claiming he "wanted nothing more to do with this list anymore." He did not explain his motivations, and party members claimed they were unaware that he intended to resign. He

11154-469: The anti-American views of some right-wing forums in the 1970s and 1980s (that chiefly were rooted in worries over US cultural expansion and hegemonic role in world politics at the expense of Europe), the FPÖ were more positively inclined towards the United States under Haider's leadership in the late 1980s and 1990s. However, this changed in 2003 following Haider visiting Saddam Hussein on the eve of

11297-443: The best for the Viennese Greens so far. From the total tally, they received 22%, which put them ahead of the Christian-democratic ÖVP and placed them on second position behind the SPÖ (37.7%). In Neubau the Greens received 41%. They were also able to win first place in the districts of Wieden, Mariahilf, Josefstadt and Alsergrund. In the 2005 Gemeinderat elections, the Greens were able to win votes, but missed their target of becoming

11440-571: The capital city of Innsbruck the Greens reached approximately 27% of the vote. The Tyrolean election result also meant that the Greens could for the first time in history nominate a member to the Upper House of Parliament. Since 2003 the Green delegate to the Federal Council ( Bundesrat ) of Parliament is Eva Konrad , former chairlady of the Austrian National Union of Students ( Österreichische HochschülerInnenschaft ) of

11583-458: The controversial "Austria First!" initiative attempted to collect signatures for a referendum on immigration restrictions and asserted that "Austria is not a country of immigration." The party maintained that "the protection of cultural identity and social peace in Austria requires a stop to immigration", maintaining that its concern was not against foreigners, but to safeguard the interests and cultural identity of native Austrians. Although during

11726-439: The core workforce, whereas the party has been a protagonist of tax cuts, trade union disempowerment and, more recently, welfare chauvinism." It criticised unemployment and alleged welfare-state abuse by immigrants which, it said, threatened the welfare state and pensioners' benefits. During the 1980s and 1990s, Austrian voters became increasingly disaffected with the rule by the two major parties (SPÖ and ÖVP). This coincided with

11869-500: The dissolution of its predecessor, Identity and Democracy (ID). The FPÖ was founded in 1956 as the successor to the short-lived Federation of Independents (VdU), representing pan-Germanists and national liberals opposed to socialism and Catholic clericalism, represented by the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) and the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), respectively. Its first leader, Anton Reinthaller ,

12012-505: The election. He resigned on 1 June 2021. On 7 June 2021, Herbert Kickl was elected the new leader of the party by the central party committee, a process that was made official at a party convention vote on 19 June 2021. In the 2024 Austrian legislative election the Party's support increased from 16% to 29.2% of the vote, placing first and achieving its best result in the party's history. Defunct Historically, from its foundation until

12155-573: The end of the Cold War, the FPÖ became more eurosceptic , which was reflected by its change from Pan-Germanism to Austrian nationalism . The party's opposition to the European Union grew stronger in the 1990s. The FPÖ opposed Austria's joining the EU in 1994, and promoted a popular initiative against the replacement of the Austrian schilling with the euro in 1998, but to no avail. Owing to perceived differences between Turkish and European culture,

12298-422: The federal government of not having pushed for a better deal with the European Union concerning transit-traffic and in effect abandoning the concerns of the citizens. They also heavily criticised the government's failure to negotiate a follow-up of the 1994 transit-treaty signed with the EU. Apart from the Greens, various anti-transit civic movements have formed to protest against the environmental damages caused by

12441-555: The federal party section of Salzburg split off and formed the Free Party Salzburg . In the 2016 Austrian presidential election , Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer won the first round of the election, receiving 35.1% of the vote, making that election the Freedom Party's best ever election result in its history. However, in the second round, Hofer was defeated by Alexander Van der Bellen , who received

12584-630: The federal state capital Klagenfurt , the Carinthian Greens have already played a political role for a longer time. In the Klagenfurt city council , the Greens are represented by Andrea Wulz , Matthias Koechl, Angelika Hoedl and Reinhold Gasper . Since the local election in 2003, the Klagenfurt Greens were able to take one of nine seats in the proportional city-government, Andrea Wulz is the town councillor for issues relating to women, family matters and social housing projects . In 1998

12727-410: The first half of the 2000s, but was renewed after most of the parliamentary group left to join the BZÖ in 2005. Immigration was not a significant issue in Austria until the 1980s. Under Haider's leadership, immigration went from being practically non-existent on the list of most important issues for voters before 1989, to the 10th-most-important in 1990, and the second-most-important in 1992. In 1993,

12870-523: The former members of the old Alternative and VGÖ factions within the party, reflected in the differing approaches of the national and state parties. Apart from ecological issues such as environmental protection , the Greens are Pro-European and campaign for the rights of minorities and advocate a socio-ecological ( ökosozial ) tax reform . Their basic values according to their charter in 2001 are: " direct democracy , nonviolence , ecology , solidarity , feminism and self-determination ". The party

13013-624: The grassroots support he desired, which he did not consider possible with a purely electoral list. He intended each candidate on the list to specialise in and represent a specific policy area, stating he sought to "people the programme". For his list, Pilz initially presented teacher, musician, and activist Maria Stern , lawyer and consumer advocate Peter Kolba , former Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) politician and animal rights activist Sebastian Bohrn Mena , entrepreneur Stephanie Cox, and lawyer Alfred J. Noll . On 28 July, three National Council deputies defected from their parties and joined

13156-422: The increasing importance of immigration as a political issue, in 1993 the party decided to launch the "Austria First!" initiative (calling for a referendum on immigration issues). The initiative was controversial and five FPÖ MPs, including Heide Schmidt , left the party and founded the Liberal Forum (LiF). The FPÖ's relations with the Liberal International also became increasingly strained, and later that year

13299-400: The late 1980s through the 1990s, the party developed economically, supporting tax reduction, less state intervention and more privatisation. Starting in the late 2000s, the party has taken a more populist tack, combining this position with qualified support for the welfare state. According to a 2020 study, the party's policy on welfare "is restricted to the mitigation of welfare retrenchment for

13442-414: The late 1990s the party attacked the influence of Islamic extremism , this was later expanded to include " Islamisation " and the increasing number of Muslims in general. According to The Economist , the hostility to Muslims is "a strategy that resonates with voters of Serbian background , whom the party has assiduously cultivated." The party has also vowed to outlaw the distribution of free copies of

13585-475: The latter had introduced a "moderate, right-wing liberal" and more economically oriented ideology. In the 2010 Vienna elections , the FPÖ increased its vote to 25.8% (slightly less than the record result of 1996); this was seen as a victory for Strache, due to his popularity among young people. This was only the second time in the postwar era that the SPÖ lost its absolute majority in the city. After its convention in early 2011 midway between general elections,

13728-475: The latter welcomed convicted Waffen-SS war criminal Walter Reder in person when Reder arrived at Graz Airport after his release from Italy. While the FPÖ struggled with its low support at the national level in the mid-1980s, this was in sharp contrast to the party's position in Haider's Carinthia (where the party had increased its support from 11.7% in the 1979 provincial election to 16% in 1984). During

13871-408: The lead candidate. The list won 1.04% of votes cast and failed to win any seats. After a snap legislative election was called in June 2019 , Alfred J. Noll, Bruno Rossmann, Wolfgang Zinggl and Stephanie Cox announced they would not seek re-election. Alma Zadić announced she would instead run for the Greens; she was elected to the fifth spot on the Greens' federal list. On 9 July, she was expelled from

14014-441: The leadership of Heinz-Christian Strache (2005–2019), the FPÖ has focused on describing itself as a Heimat and "social" party. This means that the party has portrayed itself as a guarantor of Austrian identity and social welfare state . Economically, it has supported regulated liberalism with privatisation and low taxes, combined with support for the welfare state; however, it has maintained that it will be impossible to uphold

14157-417: The leadership of Haider, who presented the FPÖ as the only party which could seriously challenge the two parties' dominance. The party strongly criticised the power concentrated in the hands of the elite, until the FPÖ joined the government in 2000. In the 1990s the party advocated replacing the present Second Austrian Republic with a Third Republic, since it sought a radical transformation from "a party state to

14300-418: The liberals failed to enter any legislature. The traditional strongholds in Vienna for the Greens are the districts of Neubau (2005: 43.26%), Josefstadt (32.26%), Alsergrund (29.43%), Mariahilf (28.97%) and Wieden (25.14%). In the 2001 Gemeinderat elections, the Greens were able to win the majority of a district for the first time. In the district of Neubau they won 32.55% and were able to nominate

14443-460: The long run, they might give rise to an anti-EU backlash. Some observers noted an inconsistency in that there had been no sanctions against Italy when the post-fascist Italian Social Movement / National Alliance had entered government in 1994. The FPÖ struggled with its shift from an anti-establishment party to being part of the government, which led to decreasing internal stability and electoral support. Its blue collar voters became unhappy with

14586-562: The mainstream socialist and Catholic camps and feared that hostility following the hastily devised postwar denazification policy (which did not distinguish between party members and actual war criminals) might stimulate a revival of Nazism. Aiming to become a political home to everyone not a member of the two main parties, the VdU incorporated an array of political movements—including free-market liberals, populists, former Nazis and German nationalists, all of whom had been unable to join either of

14729-528: The members, the Greens rely on a large number of volunteers. The party used to function on the principles of grassroots democracy ( Basisdemokratie ) and rotation principle ( Rotationsprinzip ), but this was stopped in the course of the time. The last basic-democratic element is the Urabstimmung , which is a vote on any issue that can be initiated with the petition of at least 100 members. As of 2003 however, no such vote has taken place. The highest body

14872-474: The merger of the more conservative Green party Vereinte Grüne Österreichs (United Greens of Austria VGÖ, founded 1982) and the more progressive party Alternative Liste Österreichs (Alternative List Austria, ALÖ, founded 1982). Since 1993, the party has carried the official name Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative (Grüne) , but refers to itself in English as "Austrian Greens". There are still differences between

15015-605: The more extreme faction in the FPÖ broke away and established the National Democratic Party , seen by some observers as a final shedding of the party's Nazi legacy. Under the influence of Kreisky, a new generation of liberals brought the FPÖ into the Liberal International in 1978. During the years under Peter the party never won more than 8% of the national vote in general elections, and generally did not have much political significance. It did, however, demand electoral reforms that benefitted smaller parties as

15158-427: The movement rather than let it be led by a more socialist-leaning group. While the majority of former Nazis had probably joined the two main parties in absolute numbers, they formed a greater percentage of FPÖ members due to the party's small size. Nevertheless, none of them were real revolutionaries and they pursued pragmatic, non-ideological policies, and the FPÖ presented itself as a moderate party. The FPÖ served as

15301-405: The name "JETZT" the next day, while the party formally changed its name on 3 December. The party also adopted a formal party programme, which identified four key priorities: Europe, ecology, justice, and oversight. In the 2019 European Parliament election on 26 May, JETZT ran a joint list named "EUROPA NOW! – Initiative Johannes Voggenhuber", featuring former Greens MEP Johannes Voggenhuber as

15444-497: The new party leader, the 1989 Carinthia provincial election caused a sensation; the SPÖ lost its majority and the ÖVP was relegated to third-party status, as the FPÖ finished second with 29% of the vote. The FPÖ formed a coalition with the ÖVP, with Haider as Governor of Carinthia (at this point his greatest political triumph). By the 1990 general election the party had moved away from the liberal mainstream course, instead focusing on immigration and becoming increasingly critical of

15587-445: The newly constructed Landtag building in 1981 only provided space for the traditional three parties (ÖVP, SPÖ, FPÖ), not four. Since the traditional organic farming sector is important in the western Austrian regions, the Greens were able to gain support. In the following years the Greens were able to consolidate their position by gaining seats on the communal and municipal level. Occasionally they lost their official club status in

15730-532: The offices of vice-chancellor and party leader. The resulting snap election saw the FPÖ fall to 16.2% and return to opposition. On 30 June 2024, ANO 2011 , the Freedom Party of Austria, and Fidesz created a new alliance named Patriots for Europe . The FPÖ is a descendant of the pan-German and national liberal camp ( Lager ) dating back to the Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas . During

15873-452: The pan-German concept. In 1995 Haider declared an end to pan-Germanism in the party, and in the 1997 party manifesto the former community of "German people" was replaced with the "Austrian people". Under the leadership of Strache, the concept of Heimat has been promoted and developed more deeply than it had been previously. After his re-election as chairman in 2011, the German aspects of the party's programme were formally reintroduced. At

16016-512: The party walked out from the lower house of Austria 's parliament during a speech by the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in protest at this supposed violation of Austria's national principle of neutrality . Presently, the party advocates the introduction of a hard north Euro and a soft south Euro. Even before joining the supranational Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom (MENF; now renamed Patriots.eu ) in 2014,

16159-613: The party foundation "Education Association - Open Society" retained €1.4 million in public funding which it was not required to repay. At the unveiling of the party, Pilz stated its official colour is "transparent", but that white would suffice for representation in opinion polls . However, the party has primarily been portrayed using grey , and often uses the colour in promotional material. The Greens %E2%80%93 The Green Alternative The Greens – The Green Alternative ( German : Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative , pronounced [diː ˈɡʁyːnən diː ˈɡʁyːnə ˌaltɛʁnaˈtiːvə] )

16302-559: The party opposes the accession of Turkey to the EU ; it has declared that should this happen, Austria must immediately leave the EU. Previous party leader Norbert Hofer has said that Austria should consider a referendum on EU membership should Turkey join the block or if the EU makes any further attempt to become a Federal superstate. The party's views on the United States and the Middle East have evolved over time. Despite

16445-467: The party program and sets the party guidelines. In the last few years, the federal executive (Bundesvorstand) has developed into the actual decision-making centre. It meets at least once a week, mostly on Tuesdays, and determines the guidelines of daily politics. The federal executive also decides on party finances. The extended federal executive (Erweiterter Bundesvorstand) consists of a smaller number of delegates from each state and meets at least once

16588-434: The party's need to support some neo-liberal ÖVP economic reforms; the government's peak in unpopularity occurred when tax reform was postponed at the same time that the government was planning to purchase new interceptor jets. Internecine strife erupted in the party over strategy between party members in government and Haider, who allied himself with the party's grassroots. Several prominent FPÖ government ministers resigned in

16731-609: The political establishment and the EU. Following a remark made by Haider in 1991 about the "decent employment policy" of Nazi Germany (in contrast to that of the current Austrian government), he was removed as governor by a joint SPÖ-ÖVP initiative and replaced by the ÖVP's Christof Zernatto. Later that year, however, the FPÖ saw gains made in three provincial elections (most notably in Vienna ). While Haider often employed controversial rhetoric, his expressed political goals included small government with more direct democracy . Following

16874-492: The price for tolerating Kreisky's minority government. Liberal Norbert Steger was chosen as new FPÖ party leader in 1980; in an effort to gain popularity, he helped the FPÖ become established as a moderate centrist liberal party. His vision was to transform the FPÖ into an Austrian version of the German Free Democratic Party (FDP), focusing on free-market and anti-statist policies. In the 1980s,

17017-503: The process disbanding the SPÖ-FPÖ "Small Coalition" and, after the election, entered into a coalition with the ÖVP. Under Haider's leadership, the FPÖ increased its vote to 9.7%, while the party gradually became more right-wing and its former liberal influence waned. As the FPÖ increased its electoral support with Haider's radical-populist rhetoric, the party reduced its chances of forming coalitions with other parties. With Jörg Haider as

17160-497: The respective chancellors are shown, the Roman numeral stands for the cabinets . The Green party also entered the parliaments or assemblies ( Landtag ) of Austrian federal states and communal governments. Following is an analysis of the party on the federal state ( Länder ) level: The Burgenland Greens were able to take their seats in the federal state parliament (Landtag) for the first time in 2000. The party received 5.49% of

17303-413: The right." They emphasised Pilz's outspoken opposition to " Political Islam ", which he described as a greater threat to Austria than right-wing populism . The Pilz List has been compared to German party The Left , which is often classified as left-wing populist. Political scientist Reinhard Heinisch stated that the Pilz list could occupy space in the "left-wing populist area" which has opened up due to

17446-468: The second most powerful party and ended up on fourth place, right behind the right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ). Because of the different weighing by districts, the Greens received 14 mandates, one more than the FPÖ. They were also able to place another city-councillor. In the districts, the party was able to consolidate their holding on Neubau, as well as win the majority of votes in Josefstadt. With that,

17589-724: The state assembly, when they fared poorly from 1999 to 2004. In 2006 the speaker of the Vorarlberg Greens was Johannes Rauch . The results of the Vorarlberg Landtag elections: Combined result of ALÖ and VGÖ The Viennese Greens started nominating candidates in the Vienna Gemeinderat (municipal council or state assembly) in 1983 and were able to enter in 1991. Over the years they have been able to continually gather support. A lot of support has been coming from former Liberal Forum voters, after

17732-534: The state capital of Linz under the leadership of city councillor Jürgen Himmelbauer were most against this black-green project. On the national level, the Upper Austrian Greens were able to nominate and send to the parliamentary Upper House Federal Council ( Bundesrat ) councillor Ruperta Lichtenecker . The Vorarlberg Greens were the first to ever win mandates in an Austrian state assembly election. Already in 1984 they were able to win 13% of

17875-576: The support of 50.3% compared to Hofer's 49.7%. In July first the Constitutional Court of Austria voided the results of the second round due to mishandling of postal votes; although the court did not find evidence of deliberate manipulation. The re-vote took place on 4 December 2016 when Van der Bellen won by a significantly larger margin. In the 2017 Austrian legislative election , the FPÖ obtained 26% of votes, increased its seats by eleven seats to 51 seats, achieving its best result since

18018-467: The tally, which meant two mandates. In the federal state elections in 2005 these two seats were reaffirmed with 5.21% received of all votes cast. In the southernmost federal state Carinthia , different Green parties ran state elections: the KEL/AL in 1984, Anderes Kärnten in 1989 and 1994, and Demokratie 99 in 1999. These parties were, however, never able to enter the federal state assembly, since

18161-919: The traffic. Sitting in the National Council is Kurt Grünewald , a Tyrolean member of parliament, as well as the former leader of the Greens Alexander Van der Bellen , who has Tyrolean roots (he spent a part of his youth there and went to high school in Innsbruck). The results of the Tyrolean Landtag elections: 2003 delegates: Sepp Brugger , Maria Scheiber, Uschi Schwarzl , Elisabeth Wiesmüller und Georg Willi (club chairman); 1999 delegates: Maria Scheiber , Elisabeth Wiesmüller , Georg Willi (club chairman); 1994 delegates: Bernhard Ernst , Franz Klug, Max Schneider und Georg Willi (club chairman [ Klubobmann ]); 1989 delegates: Eva Lichtenberger, Jutta Seethaler , Franz Klug . In 1997

18304-494: The two main parties. The VdU won 12% of the vote in the 1949 general election , but saw its support begin to decline soon afterward. It evolved into the FPÖ by 1955/56 after merging with the minor Freedom Party in 1955; a new party was formed on 17 October 1955, and its founding congress was held on 7 April 1956. The first FPÖ party leader was Anton Reinthaller , a former Nazi Minister of Agriculture and SS officer. He had been asked by ÖVP Chancellor Julius Raab to take over

18447-511: The two parties were subsequently called off, after the results with the ÖVP were not sufficient. The Green youth organisation Grünalternative Jugend (Green Alternative Youth or GAJ) briefly occupied the rooms of the Green parliamentary club in the Austrian parliament building in protest. In 2003 three Green federal counsellors formed their own club in the Upper House Federal Council ( Bundesrat ) of Parliament. After

18590-621: The video, Strache also suggests his intention to censor the Austrian media in a way that would favor the FPÖ, citing the media landscape of Orban's Hungary . The footage led to the collapse of the coalition with the ÖVP on 20 May 2019. In the 2019 general election the party's support collapsed to 16%, down from 26% in 2017. In the aftermath of the election they collapsed to a record low of 10% in April 2020, but as of November 2022 they have stabilized to around 23–25%. Norbert Hofer replaced Strache as party leader in September 2019, just before

18733-475: The votes in the Vorarlberg state assembly elections, which for that time was an absolute sensation. The charismatic alpine farmer Kaspanaze Simma from Bregenzerwald was the leading candidate, it was mainly due to his efforts why the party was so instantly successful. Because of their strength, the Greens were allowed to form their own parliamentary fraction ( Klub ), which caused some logistical problems as

18876-513: The war due to guilt by association with National Socialism. In 1949, the Federation of Independents (VdU) was founded as a national liberal alternative to the main Austrian parties—the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), successors to the interwar-era Marxist and Christian Social parties. The VdU was founded by two liberal Salzburg journalists—former prisoners of Nazi Germany—who wanted to stay clear of

19019-538: The welfare state if current immigration policies are continued. The FPÖ has been accused by the Austrian Mauthausen Committee of being involved in right-wing extremism and possessing a neo-Nazi ideology. The principle of individual freedom in society was already one of the central points in the FPÖ (and VdU's) programme during the 1950s. The party did not regard its liberalism and its pan-German, nationalist positions as contradictory. From

19162-466: The ÖVP, which became the largest party in Austria with 43% of the vote. Nevertheless, the coalition government of the ÖVP and FPÖ was revived after the election; however, there was increasing criticism within the FPÖ against the party's mission of winning elections at any cost. After an internal row had threatened to tear the FPÖ apart, former chairman Jörg Haider , then-chairwoman and his sister Ursula Haubner , vice chancellor Hubert Gorbach and all of

19305-420: Was a former Nazi functionary and SS officer, but the FPÖ did not advocate far-right policies and presented itself as a centrist party. The FPÖ was long the third largest in Austria and had modest support. Under the leadership of Norbert Steger in the early 1980s, it sought to style itself on Germany's Free Democratic Party (FDP). The FPÖ gave external support to SPÖ chancellor Bruno Kreisky (SPÖ) after

19448-460: Was drawn when the Green delegate Andreas Wabl hoisted a swastika flag on the speakers podium in the Austrian parliament, protesting against then Federal President Kurt Waldheim . After the national election in 2002 , the Greens entered into preliminary negotiations about a possible coalition government with the conservative ÖVP. During negotiations, party leadership was accused of internally black-mailing skeptical members. Negotiations between

19591-406: Was elected as the party's new leader. After the launch of the party, Die Presse described it as an answer to the Greens' failure to "take the left-wing populist course Pilz recommended," and "at the same time a political experiment. ... Socio-politically the movement is clearly left ... On the other hand, when it comes to the topic of "Migration and Asylum", the initiative should be classified on

19734-449: Was expelled from the parliamentary group without notice after speaking critically of Peter Pilz in an interview. On 19 July, Bißmann was also expelled from the parliamentary group. At a party meeting on 20 August 2018, Maria Stern was elected as party leader. Peter Pilz became deputy leader. On 19 November 2018, the party announced it was changing its name to "NOW – Pilz List" ( German : JETZT – Liste Pilz ). The parliamentary group took

19877-421: Was the leading candidate and ran a campaign directed strongly against immigration . It took a 14.9% share, while the BZÖ won just 1.2%. By the 2006 general election , the FPÖ returned to promoting anti-immigration, anti-Islam and Eurosceptic issues. It won 11% of the vote and 21 seats in parliament, while the BZÖ only barely passed the 4% threshold needed to enter Parliament. The subsequent coalition between

20020-462: Was the strongest party, this would have meant for the Greens to enter into a coalition government with them (the so-called " Schwarz-Grün " [Black-Green] coalition, named after the party-colours). This new political constellation was quite controversial amongst party members on both sides. In the Green party, the leader Rudi Anschober was able to convince party members and after some dealing became state councillor for environmental affairs. The Greens of

20163-453: Was then offered sixth place on the list, but rejected it and instead announced his retirement from the National Council. Over the following weeks, speculation grew about the prospect of Pilz forming his own party. When questioned on the subject, he neither confirmed or denied rumours. Opinion polls conducted throughout July indicated such a party could garner support from around 4–6% of voters. On 25 July 2017, Pilz announced his resignation from

20306-424: Was to be succeeded by Maria Stern. However, Stern agreed to decline her mandate and allow Peter Pilz to re-enter the National Council via the federal list in exchange for being guaranteed election as the party's federal leader. Pilz thus returned to the National Council on 8 June. During his swearing-in on 11 June, all female deputies left the chamber with the exception of those from the Pilz group, Second President of

20449-504: Was too controversial to be part of the government, let alone lead it. Amid intense international criticism of the FPÖ's participation in the government, the FPÖ ceded the chancellorship to Wolfgang Schüssel of the ÖVP. As a concession to the FPÖ, the party was given the power to appoint the Ministers of Finance and Social Affairs. Later that month Haider stepped down as party chairman, replaced by Susanne Riess-Passer . Having threatened

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