Posters for the European elections

Gloomy messages: FPÖ against the “EU madness”

Top candidate Harald Vilimsky presented the posters in Rust in Burgenland. Instead of an "Öxit", he wants "at most an exit from madness".

(Bild: APA/ROBERT JAEGER)

The FPÖ presented its first wave of posters for the EU elections on Friday. Entitled "Stop EU madness", it features a collection of emotional slogans in a gloomy design. In the election, lead candidate Harald Vilimsky is expecting around 30 percent of the vote for the blue party.

"In the first wave of posters, we don't want to distract attention with a portrait," Vilimsky explained at the press event in Rust, Burgenland. Alongside the slogan are black and white images - in the middle, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj from a photo in which they are hugging in greeting and it looks as if they are kissing. Next to it is a refugee boat, a tank, a syringe under the heading "Corona chaos" and wind turbines next to "eco-communism".

Parties dubbed the "gang of four"
"Enough is enough, because the sum of political madness has reached a level where you can only press the stop button," said Vilimsky. The "gang of four" consisting of the ÖVP, SPÖ, Greens and NEOS would want to demolish the state and leave Austria at the mercy of international interests. The "four-party alliance of Austria destroyers" would face the FPÖ, the "patriotic challenger".

Top candidate Harald Vilimsky presented the posters in Rust in Burgenland. Instead of an "Öxit", he wants "at most an exit from madness".

(Bild: APA/ROBERT JAEGER)

The FPÖ wants to score points with gloomy posters and slogans such as "warmongering" and "asylum crisis".

(Bild: APA/ROBERT JAEGER)

He called for a "radical slimming model" for the EU, which would see the Commission and Parliament halved in size. In addition, powers should be returned to the national parliaments and direct democracy should take precedence over EU law. "No Öxit, at most an exit from madness. More red-white-red, peaceful cooperation and away from centralism and the dictatorship of corporations," Vilimsky also demanded.

Goal: strong far-right alliance
When asked about the election target, Vilimsky said "the more, the better", it should be 30 percent or more. However, the international alliance of liberal, center-right and conservative politicians is more important in order to be able to implement the promises: "This alliance will be very broad and good for Europe." It could become the second strongest or even the strongest force, estimates the blue top candidate.

Vilimsky with FPÖ Secretary General Schnedlitz (in the background)

(Bild: APA/ROBERT JAEGER)

General Secretary Michael Schnedlitz already saw Austria in the middle of an intense election campaign: it was all about manipulating voters "with dirty stories". "It's been the same game since Jörg Haider: Whenever a politician becomes too dangerous for the system, they try to pander." However, the super election year offers the chance to decide whether things should "go on like this" for five years at European and Austrian level. The "system" has "taken root" at all levels, now it is about "a liberating blow for the people". Schnedlitz identifies problems caused by "mass immigration", for example, as illegal immigrants now account for "one in ten federal states". He held Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) responsible for this.

Accusations against Doskozil
Burgenland is one of the main victims of the "failure of the EU" and federal politics when it comes to migration, stated provincial party chairman Alexander Petschnig: "The failures, the lack of action is having an impact at national and regional level." He also criticized Governor Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ). Although he plays the hardliner, he is a "security-policy frother". In his role as state police director, Doskozil had written in a working paper in 2015 that comprehensive border controls could not be implemented while maintaining proportionality. "You have to come to the conclusion that the governor does not want to secure the border," said Petschnig.