Word: austrians
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Austrian President Thomas Klestil swore in a new, highly contested coalition government and ushered what may be an era of Austrian isolation from the democratic world, in general, and the European Union (E.U.), in particular...
After negotiations to salvage a 13-year coalition between Klestil's own moderate Social-Democratic Party and the middle-right People's Party failed, Klestil was left no choice but to give his reluctant consent to a coalition between the People's Party and the far-right Austrian Freedom Party, headed by outspoken xenophobe and former Nazi apologist, Jorg Haider. Although Haider himself will not hold office in the new government, his party controls six ministerial positions, including those in the highly sensitive areas of justice and defense...
...understandable response to the current political environment in Europe. After almost 50 years of relative democratic stability in most E.U. member nations, the prospect of Austria's coalition government leading the subcontinent down a slippery slope towards fascist governance is highly unlikely. But the prospect that the new Austrian government will set a precedent for middle-right/far-right coalitions throughout Europe--a political landscape that has been kept in balance in the post World War II era by moderate/middle-right coalitions--is not so far fetched. Austria was not the only European nation to experience declining support for moderate social-democratic...
...Nazi; he's just a good old xenophobic, right-wing demagogue. Ignoring European Union warnings against allowing Jorg Haider's Freedom party into government, Austrian politicians moved Tuesday toward concluding a coalition agreement between the anti-immigrant party and the mainstream conservative People's party. Haider's previous statements sympathetic to the Third Reich's employment policies and his reference to the Waffen SS as "men of character and conviction" have had European politicians threatening diplomatic isolation if the Freedom party is allowed into government...
...Despite the furor over Haider's musings on Nazis, the more troubling issue for the E.U. may be the next Austrian government's policies toward Europe. "Haider's not actually pro-Nazi, nor are his supporters," says Purvis. "But he is a demagogue whose xenophobic and anti-immigration views are considered dangerous in Europe. Haider is opposed to E.U. plans to expand the union into Eastern Europe, and that could create a major problem for the E.U., since they operate by consensus." The People's party, for its part, has affirmed that it remains committed to E.U. enlargement, but European...