Haider seeks allies in bid for cash support

Date: 17/10/1996

FREEDOM Party leader Jörg Haider is looking for a new anti-Maastricht pact between far-right MEPs in the European Parliament after his party's success in winning six seats in Austria's first Euro-elections.

But any hopes Haider might have entertained of striking a bargain with French millionaire Sir James Goldsmith's Europe of Nations Group (EDN) look set to be dashed. A group spokesman insisted this week: “We have had no contact from Haider and our group's policy is to have no contact with parties like this.”

If the EDN maintains its hostility and Haider's MEPs are unable to strike another alliance, they will not have enough members to benefit from the financial support the Parliament gives to political groups.

Instead, they will be forced to remain in the ranks of the Parliament's non-attached members and sit alongside members of France's Front National, Belgium's Vlaams Blok and Italy's Alleanza Nazionale when the new Austrian MEPs enter the Parliament on 11 November.

Although the FPÖ's Euro-parliamentary representation has risen by only one seat, the party polled 27.6&percent; of the votes cast and recorded its best-ever electoral result as Haider's xenophobic rhetoric struck a responsive chord with more than a quarter of Austrian voters.

In contrast, the elections were a psychological set-back for the social democrats (SPÖ). They lost two of their eight parliamentary seats and, although they emerged in second place with 29.1&percent; of the vote, they experienced their worst result in a nationwide poll since 1918.

But the party was determined to put a brave face on the set-back. “As far as we are concerned, the socialists, with 215 members, are still the largest group in the European Parliament, while Haider is banished to the margins,” said a spokesman.

The overall winner in Sunday's poll was the People's Party (ÖVP), which received 29.6&percent; of the votes and increased its number of MEPs from six to seven.

“We won our highest share of the votes for 30 years and the success is confirmation of our policies over the past two years. Now we will need to put more effort into informing people in Austria about the work of the Parliament and the Union,” said a christian democrat official.

Both the Green and Liberal groups maintained their earlier parliamentary strength, with one member each. As politicians digest the FPÖ's strong showing, Green group leader Claudia Roth, who campaigned in the Austrian elections, warned that Haider's supporters had reaped the dividends of broken social democrat promises.

“Two years ago, the social democrats promised all sorts of things from EU membership. They did not materialise and we have seen the result. I was shocked by the low level of debate and lack of knowledge of the EU and it is extremely dangerous to try to make the Union responsible for everything,” she said.