Hungary/Austria – After Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sent him a letter congratulating him on his election as leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) on 19 June, with the support of 88.24% of the delegates at an extraordinary congress, the new chairman of the Austrian national conservatives Herbert Kickl wrote back to thank him. His answer reflects the new alliance that is being forged in Europe between the Hungarian Fidesz and the Polish PiS on the one hand, and the so-called right-wing “populist” parties of Western Europe on the other.
Herbert Kickl praises Viktor Orbán’s unwavering commitment to Hungary
In his letter, Herbert Kickl referred to the current situation in the European Union where “a Europe of homelands is becoming a Europe without homelands, [and where]
a prominent clique is in denial of our real life and considers gender theory and the raising of the rainbow flag as the norm superseding everything else, never mind the will of the majority”.
Kickl also gave a glimpse of what his upcoming programme may look like: “From now on, on behalf of the entire Freedom Party, I look forward to a fruitful exchange of experiences with our Hungarian friends.” Among those Hungarian friends, there is of course Viktor Orbán, whose “unwavering commitment to Hungary’s interests” the Austrian politician can only “praise”. Herbert Kickl also expressed his hope that “the strategic cooperation between Fidesz and the FPÖ can be intensified in the future”.
The FPÖ and Fidesz have common goals
The Austrian party chairman went on to assure the Hungarian Prime Minister that
“the entire Hungarian people will find [in the FPÖ] an ally when it comes to taking a bold stance on common goals, such as preserving our Christian identity, strengthening migration policy, effectively protecting the EU’s external borders, maintaining the sovereignty of the nation state or fighting against EU tutelage.”
One major point of disagreement remains between the two parties: their respective positions on the Covid narrative. Indeed, for the last 16 months the Hungarian government has introduced a number of measures restricting freedoms and pushing for mass vaccination, while the Austrian FPÖ has strongly criticized excessive health policies against Covid-19 and measures such as Covid passports, lockdowns, and the blackmail exerted by some experts and authorities to force people to get vaccinated.
