Kickl on ORF

A Showdown Between Kickl and His “Favorite Network”

Herbert Kickl and the ORF: rarely a relaxed relationship...(Bild: Imre Antal)

When Herbert Kickl makes one of his rare appearances on ORF, you know right away: a broadside is coming. Buoyed by theelection victory of its sister party, the AfD, in Saxony-Anhalt, the leader of the largest opposition party was the last to take a seat on Simone Stribl’s “Sommergespräch” program. Climate change (“blasphemy”) and ties to the Identitarians (“Don’t let people get slandered”): Things got heated—and the attacks turned personal.

“Today’s guest on our ‘favorite station,’” the blue party leader hinted with a wink on his Facebook page that afternoon, already signaling the direction the evening would take. He said he would “speak plainly there—about the problems that are a thorn in the side of the people of Austria, about the countless missteps in our country, and about what finally needs to change.”

What exactly are these problems? For Stribl and the ORF, it’s the FPÖ’s ties to the Identitarians and the climate crisis; for Kickl and the FPÖ, it’s the “ORF as a propaganda tool” and crime committed by foreigners. Who ended up getting more issues across? Read the ORF “Summer Interview” here—and vote on Kickl’s performance.

Human-caused climate change? “I don’t accept that.”
The discussion began with climate change, which Kickl dismissed as “alarmism.” “First it was forest dieback, then the ozone hole, now it’s climate change.” All of this is just a distraction. And people who can’t leave the house when it’s 40 degrees—telling them “the world is coming to an end” won’t help them either.” He refuses to “accept” the idea that CO2 produced by humans is to blame. 

Herbert Kickl and the ORF: rarely a relaxed relationship...(Bild: Imre Antal)

It’s even “blasphemy” to attribute it solely to humans. Is there such a thing as human-caused climate change? The FPÖ is the only party that acknowledges climate change—it’s simply changing, and you can’t “fix” temperatures. This isn’t the first time Kickl has emphasized Austria’s “small share” of global CO2 emissions; he considers the billions spent on climate protection to be the trigger for the next wave of inflation and views the Climate Act as “crazy politics.”

Rate Herbert Kickl’s performance here:

More Children Are Supposed to Solve Problems
The discussion then moved on to mandatory military service: They would agree to a “reasonable solution”—but so far, they haven’t heard of one. The coalition needs the support of the Freedom Party or the Greens to implement this; both parties have so far taken a wait-and-see approach. Kickl criticized the government for rejecting the model recommended by the expert commission.

As for pensions, there will be no increase in the retirement age with the FPÖ. “That’s too easy for me.” How should the system then be secured? “We’ll have to make sure families start having more than one child again.” The Blue Party’s budget expert, Arnold Schiefer, had seen things differently and proposed a longer working life: “But I’m still the party chairman,” Kickl cut off the debate, shifting the focus toward incentives. 

“Where did you get that from?”
As expected, things got heated when the topic turned to distancing the party from the Identitarians. “Where democracy is not accepted—that’s my red line,” said Kickl—so far, he hadn’t seen that among the Identitarians (“Where did you get that from, Ms. Stribl?”), and furthermore, he said, one shouldn’t “snitch on” people who are committed to “protect our borders.” To ensure this, the FPÖ plans to introduce a “remigration law” in Parliament this fall.

A heated exchange ensued: “Who’s asking the questions, who’s giving the answers? You or me? I’m not done yet either. Now I’m going to tell you what people are really afraid of…” Kickl shifted the topic and recited a list of crime statistics involving foreigners. He deliberately omitted the Austrian figures. Then he steered the conversation back to the Identitarians: Those who are now pointing the finger at the Freedom Party have “blood on their hands.” 

Herbert Kickl on his way to the “Summer Talk,” flanked by Ingrid Thurnher.(Bild: APA/HANS KLAUS TECHT)

As for why Kickl doesn’t clearly distance himself like his predecessor Heinz Christian Strache did: “I have a different perspective on some things. You certainly won’t find me in Ibiza either.” Then the FPÖ leader made a startling statement: “There are no Identitarians in my party”—but only because he couldn’t possibly know who belongs to which movement: “We don’t have a spy unit in the party.”

“Don’t you think that’s ridiculous?”
He believes he can secure a majority for his constitutional law on “remigration.” We’ll see how serious the ÖVP is—since it now suddenly wants to ban “political Islam” but hasn’t approved the Freedom Party’s numerous motions on the matter. When asked whether he, like the AfD, wanted to deport people, Kickl became indignant: “Don’t you think that’s ridiculous? I don’t even know how anyone could come up with such a stupid question, with all due respect.” After further questions about the AfD, he remarked: “You have to accept the criticism that you’re promoting the AfD and the Identitarians.”

Austrians have other concerns. There are certainly similarities with the German party—but there are also differences. The FPÖ leader then raved about the AfD’s victory in Saxony-Anhalt: “It was a magnificent sign of democracy. It was fantastic. A moment of glory.”

Watch the krone.tv Summer Talks here:
The ORF wraps up its Summer Interviews with Herbert Kickl. On krone.tv, the political summer goes into overtime. Following Leonore Gewessler, Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Christian Stocker, and Andreas Babler, FPÖ leader Kickl will answer questions from political editor Christian Nusser and krone.tv editor Katia Wagner in mid-September.