Salvation and Villain: The Role of Europe in Austrian Politics and the Rise of the Radical Right

“Europe” played a significant role in the rise of right-wing populism in Austria, by representing first a counter example to the Austrian model and subsequently an external threat, both of which allowed the right-wing populist Freedom Party to mobilize people and form a disparate coalition of voters. As this article argues however, this was less a question of ideology. As principally a populist party concerned with maximizing its success at the game of elections, the FPÖ always flexibly adapted its position to take advantage of the political opportunities that presented themselves in an evolving Union and a changing Europe. However, the Freedom Party was only able to do so because its leadership, especially Jörg Haider, was keenly aware of the ambiguity in the relationship between Austria and Europe, benefiting from Austria’s historical skepticism of Western modernity, its relative isolation from Atlanticist Europe, its ambivalence toward liberal market economies, and its lack of national identity. For all parties in Austrian politics, “Europe” thus served as an escape mechanism, an instrument of political mobilization, and an image projecting either modernity or an alien threat.