The right -wing Freedom Party, which was established in the 1950s by a man who was a senior officer in the Palforus Force of Hitler, is about to seize power in Austria.

On January 6, the country’s president Alexander van der Bellin was reluctantly granted the leader of the Freedom Party Herbert Kekel – whose party, such as Hitler, was once, in the name of “People’s Adviser” – the authorization of the formation of a coalition government after a moderate attempt to form a coalition government. One assembly without fpo Unexpected.

The Austrian Freedom Party, which ranked first in the September elections with 29% of votes, is now talking to the formation of a coalition with the Austrian People’s Party, which represents the right of the center.

Unlike the Austrian Freedom Party, this was not the preferred result of any Austrian faction. Like all other major parties, the Chinese People’s Party entered the elections on a promise not to form a coalition government with the Nazi roots party. But after it became clear that it is not possible to agree on an alternative other than the Freedom Party, the Vice President’s party quickly changed its leader to retreat from this promise and participate in the coalition negotiations.

The expected coalition between the FPO and OVP parties will not be the first that includes the far -right party in the history of modern Austria. In fact, the Freedom Party was the smallest partner in a coalition government led by the Vice President Party until 2019. But it will be the first time that the Freedom Party was the largest partner, and thus the main decision -maker, in Austrian government.

Political developments in Austria – a non -coastal European country with a population of only nine million people – rarely causing a great tower on the international scene. However, the potential rise of an extremist right -wing party that is proud of Hitler’s native home deserves special attention. Especially at a time when the extremist right achieves gains around the world, and where Russia continues its aggressive war in the heart of Europe, the success of the Freedom Party in Austria must be analyzed closely. We must look at the situation in Austria in order to understand the failures of Western liberalism that brought us here, and use this knowledge to reach a strategy to prevent more gains from the non -liberal powers.

First of all, we must realize that the formation of the Freedom Party government in Austria will constitute a great victory for Russia.

When the Freedom Party joined the government for the first time with the Vice President in 2017, he had.“Friendship Agreement” With the United Russia party led by Vladimir Putin. When he was the interior minister, its current leader, Herbert Kiel, used his powers to order a raid on the internal intelligence service in the country, which prompted the European security services to freeze the work of its Austrian counterpart.

Kekel’s attack on Austrian intelligence followed some European attacks The most important spy scandalsAll highlighted how the new Austrian government paved the way for Russia to deepen its infiltration and impact on European policy. In 2019, the leader of the then vice president and vice -president, Hinz Christian Stripped, was filmed on a video as he was entertaining bribes from the alleged Russian Qaliya government, which led to the fall of the government. This government also signed the longest agreement in Europe deal With the giant energy company owned by Kremlin Gazprom. It is now scheduled to be the gas purchase deal, which will continue until 2040, at the heart of legal disputes over the end of Russian gas shipments across Ukraine to Central Europe at the end of 2024.

It is recognized that the Freedom Party has refrained from engaging at the same level of policy in publicly supporting Putin since the beginning of the comprehensive Russian invasion of Ukraine, but the relations between the extremist right -wing and the Kremlin are still deep. Freedom Party Foreign Minister between 2017 and 19, Karen Kneissel Dancing badly with Vladimir Putin At her wedding now On At the Kremlin Research Center in Russia. The party also has Call The resumption of Russian gas trade. While there is no easy way to do this, with Kiev’s refusal to renew the transfers, it is likely that the Austrian Freedom Party, as soon as it arrives in the government, will ally with the Slovak and Hungarian governments to pressure the Ukrainians to try to achieve its goal.

Austria is also home to one of the largest natural gas storage centers in Europe. Boomgartin was historically a major distribution point for Russian gas heading in the west, but also serves Norwegian imports and other northern imports. Since Eastern Europe will need more supplies from outside Russia in the foreseeable future, this strategic position is subject to a powerful government’s control of Putin that poses a great danger to the gas markets on the continent.

It seems that the European Union, despite its awareness of this threat, is undoubtedly unable to do a lot to stop the rise of the Freedom Party. Once the intermediate negotiations collapsed, and the Freedom Party entered into talks with the Austrian People’s Party to form a government, the European authorities began to make a serious uproar over the possibility of imposing sanctions on Austria – which remained in a stagnation for two years – because they did not comply with their requirements to maintain political stability. The national deficit is less than 3% (this issue was ignored when other parties were holding talks, although there was no consensus between them on how to address the problem). However, the Freedom Party has quickly responded to the threat of the European Union – the weak of the recognition of everyone – to activate the procedures for excessive deficit to announce its agreement with the Deputy Vice President to reduce spending by 6.3 billion euros (6.6 billion dollars). Brussels quickly Agreed It would meet the requirements of deficit in the mass.

On the other hand, the European Union has been completely silent about whether the government -led government would comply with the values ​​of the bloc despite the Freedom Party. Statement The call to achieve Austrian “homogeneity” through “re -immigration”. This is flagrantly contrary to the European Union’s response to the Austrian Freedom Party’s response to the Austrian government as a small partner in the coalition for the first time in 2000. At that time, Brussels had imposed threats to impose sanctions. After that, it added an official nature to the account of member states if the principles of the European Union or the rights of citizens violate in response to the threat of the Freedom Party. However, this process has never been used, and it seems unlikely to be used at all.

With the inability of the European Union and its unwillingness to make more effort to change the political path in Austria, it seems that the formation of a government led by the country’s freedom party is inevitable. As is the case in other places of Europe, and even the United States, the rise of the extreme right in Austria was not only made, but was a direct result of the failures of middle liberals.

The Chinese People’s Party – which is supposed to be the right -wing party – has found itself a secondary role behind a right -wing right -wing party for Putin, not because the extremist positions of the Freedom Party have full support from large sectors of the population, but because it failed to gain confidence. From voters. The issue of Ibiza, and many other corruption investigations that followed, transformed large segments of its support base against the party. Because of the scandals that surrounded the delivery of appointments, contracts and profitable gambling licenses to political supporters, the party failed to get rid of the impression as a party of corrupt elites.

On the other hand, the Austrian Social Democratic Party, which belongs to the left of the center, is equally contaminated, as its latest advisor, Christian Kern, is also the party’s presidency. investigation On his commercial dealings. Her third place at 21% of the votes last September was its worst performance ever.

As the two main middle parties in the country were unable to persuade the voters that they are able to leave favoritism and corruption behind them, the Freedom Party filled the void, and depicted itself as a radical opposition to the institution. It is, of course, nothing of that, with Its scandals of its own Its history dates back to a new birth in the late 1990s under the attractive personality, Yuj Hyder. But by cutting ties quickly with its polluted leaders and standing on a growing popular platform of skepticism in Europe, autonomy and social preservation, she managed to end the last elections in the first place. Even the party managed to reformulate its campaign for a discriminatory and racist policy such as “re -immigration” as support for a “social state for the real Austrians who deserve it”, which made itself a major populist power standing against the “corrupt” liberal parties.

The extremist right forces began to rise in other places of Europe, under similar circumstances, against the backdrop of years, if not contracts of liberalism and corruption. For example, the Alternative Party for Germany (AFD) in Germany, which also supports “re -immigration” policies is the policies of “re -immigration” Put out To be second in the German elections in February.

European liberalism is in a crisis – in Austria, Germany, and others. The right -wing forces that are heading towards power in various parts of the continent threaten the European gas markets, and the future of Ukraine, while continuing to fight the Russian invasion, and the same values ​​and principles that Europe was united around one day.

As such, liberalism in Europe is in urgent need of a new message. At the moment of this crisis, we may be able to move to the Austrian economist’s article Leopold Kawhr.Separation now“For inspiration. Kawhar’s article was published in 1941, while the cost of failure in the union was against the extreme right in the polls in Austria and Germany approaching its horrific climax, and Kouhar provides a model for a possible response today.

Kawhar saw that any potential “Europe” is convicted of failure unless they are based on small independent entities such as city countries. Kawhar realized that the desire for “homogeneity” is to enable political cohesion. While he warned of the possibility that this would lead to major conflicts, reciting the readers that “the Duke of Tirol declared the war on Margif Bavaria to steal Launching. Kawhr’s vision was not based on the creation of the “United States of European”, but rather to adapt the Swiss model of the sovereignty of the cantons, which he claimed would create the basis for Europe more stable.

Kawhar’s view is a point of view that European liberals must adopt. Just as the Freedom Party has proven, they have already abandoned the use of the federal authorities that they granted to Brussels to oppose the governments of the extreme right. But since it does not provide any alternative to the populist right -wing narratives, it is expected that liberalism will continue to lose in the polls. The development of the Kohairi alternative constitutes the only appropriate response to popular demand for more sovereignty and desire for local cohesion, and this in turn is the basis for Europe more stable and therefore effective.

The opinions mentioned in this article are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al -Jazeera.