Ash Wednesday speeches

Kickl: “I’m ahead of Bruce Springsteen & Lady Gaga”

The blue "conductor": FPÖ's Herbert Kickl launched an all-out attack on his political rivals, whom he sees as a "unity party," at his party's traditional Ash Wednesday event in Ried.(Bild: APA/MANFRED FESL)

The FPÖ, ÖVP, and SPÖ were in high spirits at the political Ash Wednesday event. Chancellor Christian Stocker, Herbert Kickl, and Max Lercher made some bold statements in their speeches.

The most important points in brief:

• FPÖ party leader Herbert Kickl outlined his "Phoenix" plan as a way "back to the island of the blessed" and launched a frontal attack on the federal government.

• Styrian and Carinthian jokes, the Koralmbahn railway, and internal cohesion were the focus of the Reds in Kobenz . 

• The ÖVP invited guests to the Klagenfurt exhibition hall. But Chancellor Christian Stocker's dig at the FPÖ was not to be missed.

The krone.at ticker from Political Ash Wednesday to read:

"Buddha of Vienna"
The "Buddha of Vienna," as the German magazine "Spiegel" called ÖVP leader Christian Stocker, has so far shone as chancellor with his calm demeanor. However, in his New Year's speech in Vienna, he stirred things up with his proposal for a referendum on extending compulsory military service by his own government – and sparked a nationwide debate. This topic was also the focus of the ÖVP leader's Ash Wednesday speech in Klagenfurt.

The blue "conductor": FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl launched an all-out attack on his political rivals, whom he sees as a "unity party," at his party's traditional Ash Wednesday event in Ried.(Bild: APA/MANFRED FESL)

Photo series from the political Ash Wednesday event:

FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl(Bild: Pressefoto Scharinger/Daniel Scharinger)

(Bild: APA/MANFRED FESL)

Jahnturnhalle in Ried(Bild: APA/MANFRED FESL)

ÖVP Ash Wednesday: EPP leader Manfred Weber (CSU), Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker, and Carinthia's ÖVP leader Martin Gruber.(Bild: Dieter Arbeiter)

Klagenfurt Exhibition Hall(Bild: Dieter Arbeiter)

Chancellor Christian Stocker(Bild: Dieter Arbeiter)

Styrian SPÖ leader Max Lercher(Bild: Jürgen Fuchs)

Carinthian SPÖ leader Daniel Fellner(Bild: Jürgen Fuchs)

SPÖ Ash Wednesday in Kobenz(Bild: Jürgen Fuchs)

Stocker: "This is poisoning our society!"
The chancellor had harsh words for the FPÖ right at the start of his speech. He said that the FPÖ speech in Upper Austria was "all humtata, all fun and games. But it's not actually funny to make fun of this country. It only poisons our society." He also made it clear: "We want to decide who comes to us." By this he meant particularly radical immigrants. And here the ÖVP leader raised his voice for the first time in his speech: "They will leave this country!"

Chancellor Christian Stocker spoke out in Klagenfurt against the blue event in Ried.(Bild: Dieter Arbeiter)

The chancellor also criticized US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who calls himself a "friend of Europe." "But he is not a friend of the European Union. Rather, he is a friend of the populists," said Stocker, who kept his voice very subdued.

Kickl takes aim at the government and Wöginger
Scene change to Upper Austria: Ironically, it was in the Innviertel region, the home of black club boss August Wöginger, who claimed that FPÖ flag-wavers didn't even have teeth or torn pants, that the blue Ash Wednesday took place. The traditional event in the Jahnturnhalle in Ried is the annual high mass of an FPÖ chairman. Upper Austria is important for the Blues – especially with regard to the coming year. As in Styria, there is a chance for the first time to oust the ÖVP and Governor Thomas Stelzer from the top seat.

Herbert Kickl entertained the approximately 2,500 Freedom Party guests in Ried in his usual manner.(Bild: Pressefoto Scharinger/Daniel Scharinger)

State chairman Manfred Haimbuchner, who spoke before Kickl in the hall filled with 2,500 supporters, took aim at the SPÖ and the NEOS. Kickl then, as expected, lashed out at the government. He called SPÖ leader Andreas Babler a "fat cat penguin." ÖVP Minister of Economic Affairs Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer was not a "wonder weapon, but a dud," and the black club chairman Wöginger was on his way from "Diversions-Gust to Knast-Gust" (from "Diversions-Gust" to "Prison-Gust").

In the next election, only two parties will compete against each other. The FPÖ on the side of the people and all the others as a united party.

FPÖ-Chef Herbert Kickl

A parade of punchlines after the red coup farce
Herring feast, beer, and punchlines were also on the agenda in Styria. After the coup farce surrounding former Chancellor Christian Kern, two powerful Reds who were very open-minded towards Kern gathered in Kobenz. The host was the Styrian SPÖ leader Max Lercher, who, as expected, focused less on the failed revolt in his speech and more on the realities of life in Styria. However, there was still a punchline about the failed coup: "Christian Kern also wanted to come tonight, but decided against it at the last minute," he explained.

Carinthia's soon-to-be governor Fellner (left) clearly felt at home with Max Lercher (right) in Styria. Both shared their plans to get the SPÖ back on track.(Bild: Jürgen Fuchs)

The guest speaker was Carinthia's governor-elect Daniel Fellner, who saw something positive in the events surrounding Kern: "At least we state party leaders have been talking to each other more again!" And he lashed out at the Carinthian Freedom Party: "The FPÖ has changed its packaging five times, but the content has always been somehow rotten. FPÖ, BZÖ, then Freedom Party in Carinthia – the abbreviation didn't go down too well!"