On Sunday afternoon I was flipping through the newspaper at MIL’s house. I had a nice piece of cake in front of me. A big spoonful of whipped cream was dissolving in to my coffee. I can’t really read the Kronen Zeitung, plus, I’m always put off by the topless girl on page three. “This can’t be real news,” I think. “This paper is a rag.” But as I was flipping through it this time, I was stopped dead by this:
Roughly translated, the ad says “Is this our future? Austria says No! Austria will remain free!” Then there’s an admonisment to sign up – this refers to a petition that’s circulating against the admission of Turkey to the EU. There’s another poster kicking around that uses an image of Muammar Ghaddafi and quotes him as saying, “Turkey is the Trojan horse that Islamic nations can use.”
The mastermind behind this campaign is the charmismatic H.C. Strache. He models himself as a populist who “says what Vienna thinks.”
I’m trying to educate myself about Strache and his issues, but I’m finding little valuable commentary in English besides this bit of party history. There’s some stuff about how he’s blue eyed and handsome and knows how to work a crowd, but it’s not really informative about his politics. I have only what I can glean from his campaign ads.
In the meantime, with total lack of credibilty, I’ll say this: This kind of fascist fearmongering infuriates me. Do citizens of Austria actually think that the admission of Turkey to the EU means that Austrian women will be wearing burkahs? Do they really think that some Islamic horde is going to overrun their alpine garden and start overturning cars and setting them on fire? Does this kind of devisive negative campaiging win the hearts and minds of Austrians? Are they so small minded and racist? This shit works? Austria, what the hell?!
Austria often uses human rights issues as their mainstream objection to allowing Turkey to join the EU. They’re accused of creating a decoy to cover up racist underpinnings. Strache’s anti-Turkey campaign makes no such pretense and goes right for the ugliness of anti-foreigner policies.
Yesterday afternoon I had tea at the home of one of my classmates – we learn German together. She’s a Muslim, married to an Austrian man. She showed me a photo of two of her former co-workers, both from Kosovo. She is Christian, she is Muslim,” she said, pointing at the smiling friends, arm in arm in the light of the camera flash. “In Kosovo, they would have been enemies, but here, we are all friends.”
Strache made a campaign stop at a nearby town last night. I was not there with a sign reading “We are all foreigners!” This morning, I think I should have been there.
Strache is a younger, slightly “sexier” and more appealing version of Haider. However, I would not take his political campaign as a symbol of what Austrians think. I read about him now and then in the news and I talk about him with Austrian co-workers/friends. Sure, he may appeal to single desperate women who don’t really care about other cultures, just as long as they get a man, but it doesn’t stretch far beyond that. Most Viennese look at him with the typical Viennese attitude: tolerant and amused. He can speak his mind as long as he leaves their beloved Vienna alone. And the Viennese is in his essence very tolerant, but also very protective of his Wien. This means, everyone can live here, just as long as they adapt and don’t threaten Viennese traditions. Personally I think Strache will never pull it through because he is not laissez faire enough, thus not a true Viennese. And only the “true” Viennese are the ones who stay, see Michael Häupl, who has been elected mayor of Vienna since 1994. So yes, Strache is a pain, and so are his campaign signs, which are very much in my face since I live in Vienna, but that is all he can achieve, and not an inch more.
“fascist fearmongering”…Job #1 for Bush/Cheney, no?
Unrelated (but not really)…South Dakota, Pam. South. Dakota. What the hell is happening??
M: I’ve not forgotten the fascists at home, I’m just preoccupied with the fascists of Europe. I’ll get back to the Bush/Cheney adminstration as soon as I’m back stateside. You can count on it. I’m leaving them to the good people of http://www.nonfamous.com for now.
Z: You said this: Personally I think Strache will never pull it through because he is not laissez faire enough, thus not a true Viennese.
And I think this is what a lot of people think and/or say and/or agree with. He’s not X enough to be successful, ignore him. But I don’t trust that it goes all the way to the voting booth. And ignoring this kind of racism may border on irresponsible.
And Strache’s play is nationwide… I see his stuff here, too. One billboard while I was driving home from school last night (leading me to mutter about how if he wants to make statements about foreigners, maybe he could come meet my classmates) and another today while driving through the village next to ours. It’s not only Vienna, it’s all of Austria.
OMG…you might as well live in France!