Austria’s far-right Freedom Party, which was founded by former Nazis, has been given a mandate to form a governing coalition, positioning it to lead the country for the first time since World War II.
The Freedom Party won the most votes in national elections in September, but a group of more moderate parties engaged in months-long negotiations to form a coalition that would block it from taking power. Those talks faltered over the weekend and the sitting chancellor resigned. On Monday the Austrian president gave the Freedom Party the go-ahead to assemble a coalition.
If that effort is successful, Austria will be led by a politician, Herbert Kickl, who has aspired to the title “Volkskanzler,” which means “people’s chancellor” and was also used by Adolf Hitler. The Freedom Party was founded in the years following World War II by former Nazi SS soldiers, a legacy that has cropped up more recently as well: Last year, attendees at a funeral of a longtime party member sang a song that praises the “holy German Reich” and that was popularized by the Nazis.
More broadly the party, like other far-right movements across Europe, is sympathetic to Russia and opposed to migration. Its election success, which alarmed local Jewish leaders, came at a time of gains for far-right parties across the continent.
If the Freedom Party cannot form a government, Austria will hold another round of elections.
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