Winter solstice celebration

Identitarian “arsonists”: fire department deployed

The New Right celebrated the winter solstice at the popular Hohe Wand excursion destination with an illegal bonfire - investigations are now underway.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Doris Seebacher, Jack Haijes SEPA.Media KG | Isabelle Ouvrard | www.sepa.media.at)

A rally by the New Right at the popular excursion destination Hohe Wand in Lower Austria apparently got completely out of hand. Investigations are underway following the lighting of an illegal winter solstice bonfire. Apparently, a well-known AUF-1 editor from the blue favorite TV station for alternative facts was also involved. The "Krone" knows the details.

The Identitarians, who have been classified as right-wing extremists by the Austrian state security service, are often criticized as ideological arsonists. Now there has indeed been an explosive firefight at an event organized by the New Right in Lower Austria. Apparently, a winter solstice celebration a few days ago got completely out of hand.

A well-known editor of the blue favorite medium AUF 1, the self-proclaimed TV station for independent, alternative television, was probably in the middle of it instead of just being there.

Heel money when blue lights flashed between trees
But what had happened? Allegedly at the instigation of the AUF 1 employee, former head of the Vienna Identitarians, the far-right community had met in a wooded area on the Hohe Wand to light an open fire according to ancient Celtic custom. Admittedly without the consent of the forest owner or any precautions to extinguish the fire.

As it happened, the volunteer fire department had to be called out in the middle of the night due to the heavy smoke. It was only four years ago that the largest forest fire in Austria's history occurred in the nearby excursion destination on the Rax.

Investigation for violation of the forestry law
When the group saw the blue light flashing through the trees, the movement defended by FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl "as an NGO from the right" (editor's note: non-governmental organization) dispersed in all directions. The AUF-1 editor, who had already interviewed Freedom Party politicians several times, was also "accidentally" encountered near the scene.

In any case, the local security authorities are no joke: investigations are now underway against the "arsonists" for violating the forestry law, in particular because of the open fire in the forest ...