Austria’s election winner Sebastian Kurz, who may form a coalition with the far right, vowed “zero tolerance” on antisemitism in any future government, in an interview published in Israel on Tuesday.
“The battle against antisemitism and our policy of zero tolerance against all antisemitic tendencies is very important to me,” Kurz told the right-wing Israel Hayom newspaper.
“It is a clear precondition for the formation of any coalition under my leadership,” the 31-year-old conservative told the paper.
Kurz’s People’s Party (OeVP) won 31.5 percent of the vote on Sunday, near-complete results show, and his most likely coalition partner is seen as the populist Freedom Party (FPOe), third at 26%.
Media reports said the two parties were already engaged in intensive behind-the-scene talks, with the FPOe demanding key ministerial positions.
When the FPOe last entered government, in 2000 under former head Joerg Haider, who praised Hitler’s “orderly” employment policies and praised SS veterans, Israel suspended relations.
The FPOe was created by ex-Nazis in the 1950s and campaigners say that incidents of antisemitism and racism by party officials continue.
Austria’s Jewish Community (IKG) organisation, the country’s EJC affiliate, warned Kurz on Tuesday that a coalition with the FPOe could see people with “antisemitic, racist and eurosceptic beliefs” influence the government.
“The FPOe behaved itself during the election campaign. But what the FPOe says and what the FPOe does are two different things,” IKG chief Oskar Deutsch said.
