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FPÖ party conference starts with pro-Palestine disruptive action

Herbert Kickl was re-elected FPÖ party leader with just under 97 percent.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

On Saturday, 850 delegates met in Salzburg for the FPÖ federal party conference. The blue front man Herbert Kickl was confirmed as party leader with 96.94% (see video above). Read what he talked about and how the demonstrations in front of the building went.

The whole thing should actually have taken place in June - in Kitzbühel. However, due to the rampage at a school in Graz, the Freedom Party canceled its national party conference. It was now held on Saturday - at the exhibition center in Salzburg.

The most important news from the party conference in brief:

• Herbert Kickl was re-elected with 96.94 percent of the vote. In 2022, he received 91 percent at a regular FPÖ party conference. Kickl accepted the election with "great gratitude and humility". His previous deputies and his deputy were also confirmed.

• In his speech, the party leader spoke of the FPÖ's achievements, such as the "victory against the coronavirus regime", strength and what is needed for a "fulfilled life".

• He was also his usual aggressive self and lashed out at his political opponents. He even referred to Burgenland's governor Hans Peter Doskozil as "Kim Jong-un from Lake Neusiedl". The ÖVP is only interested in itself, not the people.

• After the party conference and the re-election of Herbert Kickl as leader, the "autumn offensive" of the blue party begins.

Herbert Kickl was re-elected FPÖ party leader with just under 97%.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Result from 2022 topped
Kickl is currently undisputed as FPÖ leader. He recently denied rumors that he could be leaving for provincial politics in Carinthia. He could hope for a high level of approval when he was re-elected as party leader. In Wiener Neustadt in 2021, he was elected Norbert Hofer's successor with 88.24% of delegate votes. The following year, he received 91% at a regular party conference in St. Pölten. This time, he received 96.94% of the delegates' votes - a new record.

Protests were peaceful
Kickl received less approval outside the exhibition center. "Some individuals and organizations in solidarity" joined forces to demonstrate against the event. The police announced that they had made eight identity checks and temporary arrests. The protests were peaceful and were about administrative violations.

FPÖ currently clearly in first place in the polls
The FPÖ has been on the upswing in elections for years, becoming the strongest party in the 2024 National Council elections. However, participation in government was prevented by a coalition of the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS. Nevertheless, the Freedom Party made significant gains in the polls and could currently reach up to 35%. Kickl is continuing to pursue his goal of becoming "People's Chancellor" in Austria: "I think this party conference will naturally be dominated by this renewal project for Austria. And in a nutshell, that is the people's chancellorship."

His deputies were also confirmed on Saturday: the regional party leaders Erwin Angerer (Carinthia), Manfred Haimbuchner (Upper Austria), Mario Kunasek (Styria), Udo Landbauer (Lower Austria) and Marlene Svazek (Salzburg). Harald Stefan represents Vienna.