Interview with FPÖ leader

Kickl: “Basis for talks with shadow ÖVP and Kurz”

FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl in conversation with the "Krone"(Bild: Imre Antal)

Herbert Kickl rarely gives interviews—so far this year, only to party-owned media. In an interview with the "Krone," the FPÖ leader now explains when he expects new elections to be held and whether he will become federal president or Carinthian governor, and he reveals why he is talking to the "shadow ÖVP" around former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

"Krone": Mr. Kickl, we requested this interview on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the collapse of the blue-black coalition talks on February 12, 2025. However, you only gave an interview about this to your own radio station, "Austria First." Does "Austria First" now generally come first?
Herbert Kickl: It was purely for scheduling reasons that the interview did not take place at that time. We did not cancel the interview, we only postponed it. As for "Austria First": We founded this patriotic radio station, so it is only logical that the party leader also contributes to raising its profile.

Isn't the patriotic project just a defiant reaction?
It's smart to take advantage of new technical possibilities. The establishment parties missed the boat because they thought they didn't need it. They thought they already had their people in the editorial offices and at Küniglberg. The new media were too uncontrollable and unmanageable for them. But they overlooked the march of time.

Let's take another look back. Just over a year ago, your government negotiations with the ÖVP broke down. How do you look back on those negotiations? Did you do everything right? Is there anything you regret?
They didn't break down, I ended them. And I ended them because it proved pointless to work with the Austrian People's Party to implement what the voters wanted: new approaches in key policy areas, such as asylum and economic policy. In these negotiations, we did everything we could to help this voter will prevail and bring about change. But we were dealing with a counterpart who wanted exactly the opposite. The ÖVP pursued a dual strategy at the time. The first option would have been to make me chancellor and drop my demand for change in exchange for the office. I was not prepared to do that. I couldn't go along with it because it would have been a betrayal of the voters. The second option was to form a new version of this losing coalition out of fear of new elections. I would do everything exactly the same way again: I would rather go another round and then govern with a clear situation. During the negotiations, Christian Stocker kept telling me that he couldn't decide this or that. I don't need to negotiate with anyone who can't make decisions. I wouldn't do that again.

At your New Year's meeting in Carinthia, you were already getting in the mood for the chancellorship, so to speak, and talked about compromises in politics. In fact, you would probably already be chancellor now if you had left the Ministry of the Interior to the ÖVP, right?
The Ministry of the Interior is the linchpin for change. Austria has been suffering from an asylum crisis for ten years. This extends from the security sector to schools and the social sector. The Ministry of the Interior is, in a sense, the key to unlocking the path to a new future. Those who have messed things up will probably find it difficult to fix them. On compromises: It is only half true that compromises are the fine art of politics. An equally important art of politics is decision-making. And that means creating clear conditions. And that is what is missing in this country. Because no one has the courage to do it. The asylum issue and the climate theater are two such examples. The question of how we deal with the economy, where there can be no talk of an upturn. What are we doing to make a real breakthrough there? In all these areas, compromises get me nowhere. That is why my thesis is that fundamental decisions must be made on the big issues. I can then make compromises once I have defined this goal, when it comes to implementation. That is the place for compromises.

Kickl in conversation with the "Krone"(Bild: Imre Antal)

Nevertheless, you are already preparing for the chancellorship. Do you expect new elections soon? And if so, when?
We have been preparing for this throughout the last year. The preparatory work is ongoing. That's what I keep hinting at, at least once, with the Phoenix Plan. It's much more than a headline; it's a major preparation plan for systemic change in Austria. When new elections will be held is not in my hands. I see a government that was formed out of fear of new elections in the situation at that time. At the time, I told the Federal President that the fairest thing to do under these circumstances would have been to call for new elections. He did not do so. He is partly responsible for this very, very poor government constellation, and now this government continues to flee from elections. And it will continue to do so until the first elections cannot be prevented – namely the state elections in Upper Austria and Tyrol. If the Blues win across the board there, then no stone will be left unturned in this People's Party. And that will, of course, have an impact on this government.

So you are speculating on new elections after the state elections in 2028?
Yes, I believe that could be the decisive impetus.

How many Freedom Party state governors do you expect there to be?
That's a very interesting question, because in the past, people in Austria got used to the fact that state governors were always red or black. The government was too. And nobody minded. In Upper Austria, it's not only feasible, but also our defined goal to have the state governor there. I also believe that we can achieve this in Tyrol and Salzburg. Carinthia is still governed by the reds, but I believe it is high time that we get Carinthia back into the good and proven hands of the Freedom Party.

There has never been a government with such low approval ratings on this scale.

Herbert Kickl

Let's move on to Carinthia. In an interview with the Kronen Zeitung, Carinthia's soon-to-be SPÖ governor Daniel Fellner said that he expects his SPÖ to win an absolute majority if you run in Carinthia. Are you considering running? Or does this perhaps even motivate you to do so?
I was in Carinthia recently and noticed that Fellner's statement was considered very, very arrogant and very, very presumptuous by the population. I have the feeling that someone is flexing political muscles that he doesn't actually have. And as proof of this, I would point out that he has been one of the great revolutionaries in the SPÖ, who are not even capable of challenging the weakest party leader the SPÖ has ever had with a rival candidate. As far as Carinthia and me are concerned, I have already made it very clear that I love my home state of Carinthia – the older I get, the more intensely this feeling comes back. But I have also made my decision, promising the Austrian people and voters that we will make another attempt to implement this people's chancellorship. 

Next Tuesday, the government will have been in office for exactly one year. It is well known that you do not approve of the work of the federal government. But where would you have liked to see more or something different in terms of content?
We have lost a year that we don't have. The very first thing we need to do is to tackle the energy sector with determination and bury climate communism. I say this so clearly because it will allow us to accomplish two things: First, we will solve the control problem that is causing so much suffering for households, whether it be rents or food prices. Second, we need to stimulate the economy. The growth that Mr. Stocker is now touting is not growth in the private sector, but growth in government consumption. This means that we are spending more and more on bureaucracy at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as on social security. But this is not positive economic development, because everything is financed by the federal government. It is also important to finally build Fortress Austria. 

(Bild: Imre Antal)

(Bild: Imre Antal)

What do you consider positive about the first year of government? The headscarf ban?
Yes, there is also a whole list of things that we have agreed to. The headscarf ban is better than no headscarf ban, but it is worse than the ban on political Islam, which we urgently need and where, to this day, no one can conclusively explain to me why we are not taking the bull by the horns. There are also things that I wholeheartedly support, such as the abolition of educational leave. That was something that, in its current form, was simply an abused instrument. But if the government now comes up with new taxes, it will further increase capital flight in this country.

So you are clearly rejecting wealth taxes...
The SPÖ is a major source of uncertainty for anyone doing business in Austria. You never know: will the next burdens come—or won't they? You have to do exactly the opposite. Create freedom and incentives so that companies stay here and invest here again. Inheritance taxes and wealth taxes would be a location killer.

There is also talk of reducing non-wage labor costs. Would you support that?
That has long been a wish of ours, too. Something has to be done because it is one of the factors that makes us uncompetitive internationally.

A clear decision will also be needed on the issue of extending compulsory military service. What is your position on the extension, the favored 8+2 model, and the possible referendum on this issue?
We are in favor of extending compulsory military service. But I would like to see what that looks like and what young people are taught there. And then there is something else that is important to me, which only a liberal head of government can guarantee. Ultimately, our soldiers must always be soldiers of a neutral country and under no circumstances be drawn into conflicts that do not concern us. My approach to the referendum is this: we are the party of direct democracy. That is why we are not opposed to such a thing. However, I have taken the liberty of critically noting that the question that is to be put to the population is a bit of a plant. The possible answers are: extension of military service – yes or yes. That is why we said, let's have a big "People's Day" and ask questions that are actually important to people. Do we want an ORF household fee or not? The second question would be whether we want to continue financing the war in Ukraine. 

With former SPÖ governor Hans Niessl, someone has put himself forward for the highest office in the state who has proven that the SPÖ can also successfully form a coalition with the FPÖ. And someone who has openly said that, in the event of another election victory, he would directly commission you to form a government. How do you view his non-partisan candidacy?
I know Niessl personally and value him as a man of his word. I would like to see social democracy in Burgenland come even close to the quality of Hans Niessl. But if Hans Niessl had asked me, I would have told him that it wasn't a particularly wise move. And that has nothing to do with him as a person. But I believe that he is perhaps making the mistake that many state governors make. They believe that their popularity in their own state means that they are also popular beyond the state. And that is certainly not the case. I also believe that it is no longer appropriate to view this presidential candidacy as an appendage to a political career.

You yourself are still politically active and have announced that you will field a "wild card" candidate for the Hofburg election. Can you rule out that you yourself are this wild card?
Mr. Frings, will this now be the next endless loop, as with the Carinthian governor? I have stated what my promise to the voters is, and that is to enable a Freedom Party-led government in Austria. And logically, one excludes the other. The goal is not only to come close to a majority in this next presidential election, but to actually achieve a majority. And who that will be and how we will do it, we will let the public know when we get to that point.

Norbert Hofer has come close, and he has not ruled out running again...
I had a long conversation with Norbert Hofer just three days ago. And during that conversation, he also made it clear to me that his focus and interest in the coming years will be on his entrepreneurial activities. And I take note of that. Unlike the SPÖ, we do not have self-nominations and self-promotions; instead, the party committees make the decisions.

There is a rumor circulating in political circles in Vienna that you want to meet with Chancellor Christian Stocker for a beer. Has the meeting already taken place or is it planned?
This is the first I've heard of it, so the rumor can't be that widespread. And it's just as false as the rumor that I want to become governor of Carinthia. And it's just as false as the rumor that I secretly got vaccinated against COVID-19.

I am confident that I will not have to start from scratch in the next government negotiations.

Herbert Kickl

Do you have other channels of communication with the ÖVP, which you would probably need for the chancellorship?
There are, of course, channels at the political level in the states, in the municipalities, but also at the federal level. And it will come as no surprise to you that many in Stocker's ÖVP are not at all happy that, after the Greens, the Left has been brought into the government again. This time, it's not the eco-Marxists, so to speak, but the original Marxists. Many people don't like that. And, of course, there is a basis for discussion with politicians who strongly disagree with this decision. And, I'll say this quite openly, there is also a basis for discussion with the shadow ÖVP, because they still exist. This is the group around Sebastian Kurz, who appear regularly in interviews and the media because they are naturally also unhappy with this development. And there is also a basis for discussion with representatives of the SPÖ, who are also already desperate. But I won't name any names, because they'll probably be out of a job tomorrow if it appears in the newspaper. But I am confident that I won't have to start from scratch in the next government negotiations on this issue when it comes to confidence-building measures.