The leader of Austria's Conservatives has said he has reached agreement with an extreme right wing party to form a coalition government, despite an EU threat to isolate the country. The Conservative leader, Wolfgang Schuessel of the People's Party, will be Chancellor, but he will govern with the far-right Freedom Party, although its leader, Joerg Haidar, will not be part of the government himself. The United States has said it would also consider sanctions against Austria. The People's Party and the rightwing Freedom Party will present their coalition government to the Austrian President tomorrow. He will decide whether the controversial coalition should take office.
The United States has said it will join the EU in taking sanctions against Austria if the extreme right wing Freedom Party enters government as part of a coalition. Yesterday, the leaders of the 14 other EU states said they would isolate Austrian diplomats and freeze co-operation with Austria if the Freedom Party joined the Government. But Austria's Conservative People's Party said it was pressing ahead with negotiations with the Freedom Party, despite the possible consequences. The Austrian ambassador to France said today that European Union threats to isolate Austria if Haider's party came to power in a coalition will only incite solidarity. He added that he thought the party would probably emerge as the strongest in Austria if new elections were held.
The Freedom Party, led by Joerg Haidar, is fiercely anti-immigrant. Mr Haider has apologised several times after making comments playing down the crimes of the Nazis. The party stood on an anti-immigrant, anti-EU platform and finished joint second in elections held last October. Many EU governments fear the Freedom Party and its leader Jorg Haider hold xenophobic views that clash with the treaty obligations of EU member states to uphold democracy and human rights.
The European Commission met this morning in a special session after the 14 EU member states threatened Vienna with political isolation if the far-right Freedom Party is brought into government. The Treaty on European Union sets out the procedure by which a member state can be suspended from the union by its EU partners, the commission and the European parliament. In their unprecedented statement yesterday, issued on their behalf by Portugal, Austria's EU partners unanimously declared a political boycott of Vienna if the Freedom Party is part of a new government. The Commission said it would take a wait-and-see stance as the Freedom Party cobbled a coalition with Austria's conservative People's Party. It would not be the first time a party with far-right sympathies has come to power in an EU member state.
