Party leader and top candidate Herbert Kickl was celebrated by his supporters in front of St. Stephen’s Cathedral. This time too, the blue event was not without a counter-demonstration including a massive police presence. This time, the FPÖ has a good chance of emerging as the strongest party in a National Council election for the first time.
Stephansplatz was not chosen by the Freedom Party as the location for the final event by chance. During the election campaign, Kickl had already campaigned with slogans such as “Your will be done.” But the choice of location also had a different background, as Kickl noted in his speech: Jörg Haider spoke here 25 years ago. As a “small employee” of the party, he had “goosebumps” back then. Kickl hopes to top the then record result on Sunday.
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Kickl made it clear to his fans, who were equipped with Austrian flags and blue balloons, what he expected from the election: “Together we will achieve something on Sunday that has never happened before in this country: a liberal number one and a liberal chancellor .” Together we will ensure “that the blue miracle becomes a red-white-red miracle.” The others have “the tailwind from the system and the headwind from the population”. With the FPÖ it is the other way around.
“First the people and then the chancellor”
As in previous appearances, Kickl’s displeasure was expressed primarily towards the government and ÖVP Chancellor Karl Nehammer. “First the people and then the chancellor,” he propagated again. “I want to break through normality and common sense,” he railed against the prevailing “zeitgeist” in front of his supporters. “No solidarity with the warmongers,” he also spoke out again against supporting Ukraine in the war against Russia and invoked Austrian neutrality.
There was loud approval for Kickl, especially when he came up with the “remigration” he was planning. “I don’t know what’s so evil about this word,” said the FPÖ leader, who made it clear to his fans at the end of his hour-long speech: “There is no other choice.” But a clear result is also important. The greater the distance “to number two, the less likely some people in the Hofburg will come up with stupid ideas,” said Kickl in the direction of Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen.
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Vienna’s FPÖ leader Dominik Nepp, Vienna’s top candidate Harald Stefan and Secretary General Michael Schnedlitz had previously created a mood for “People’s Chancellor” Kickl. The latter – like Kickl himself – recalled the government’s “compulsory vaccination” for which the bill would be presented on Sunday. Protagonists of the opponents of corona measures also came to the FPÖ, such as Martin Rutter and the South Tyrolean Jürgen Wirth Anderlan, who was even allowed on stage briefly.
Away from the stage, behind barriers guarded by police officers, opponents of the Freedom Party again made their displeasure known. The counter-demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Nazis out”. From the stage, Kickl warmly welcomed the “bunch of counter-demonstrators” – not without scorn.
The police reported a “quiet situation” after the event. However, a documented incident did occur: a team from the private broadcaster PULS 24 was physically harassed and insulted by apparently two FPÖ supporters in the middle of a live broadcast.
