31 January 2007
The far-right Austrian party FPÖ is engulfed in a controversy following the publication of photos that show its leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, wearing military uniform and fraternizing with alleged neo-Nazis. Strache called the publication "defamatory maneuvers". The 38-year-old, who rose from an FPÖ lieutenant under the former party leader Jörg Haider to become the leader of Austria's far-right, accuses former party leader Ewald Stadler of circulating the pictures to discredit him. The photographs, which date back 20 years, show Strache playing paintball – a sport in which participants eliminate opponents by shooting them with balls of paint – in a wood with some friends. Some of those featuring in the pictures, according to the ORF, have since been found guilty of neo-Nazi activities.
Strache explained that he was wearing army surplus uniforms simply for paintballing and said his friends had not at the time of the photos been in any trouble with the law. On Monday, he declared that he "never was a neo-Nazi and never will be a neo-Nazi." The FPÖ leader, who is known for his xenophobic speeches, led his party successfully at the legislative elections last October when they won 11 per cent of the vote. This was far ahead of the 4.1 percent managed by the BZÖ, the party formed by Haider after losing control of the FPÖ in early 2005.
Meanwhile, the governing Social Democrats of Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer has accepted Strache's explanation regarding the photos. This soft reaction drew a sharp reaction from the leader of Austria's Jewish community, Ariel Muzicant, who called Gusenbauer's attitude towards Strache "unacceptable", saying that Gusenbauer had "brushed aside all his principles". Muzicant also criticized the new extreme right caucus in the European Parliament, which includes an FPÖ parliamentarian and whose creation has been praised by Strache as "a great achievement." Muzicant said: "Such a grouping would most likely be forbidden in Austria" as it "consists of racists and anti-Semites."
