"No coalition"

February commemoration: Babler with attacks on the FPÖ

Andreas Babler rejected even the slightest possibility of a coalition with the FPÖ. (archive picture)

(Bild: APA/ERWIN SCHERIAU)

On Monday, the SPÖ commemorated the victims of the "February battles" and launched attacks against the FPÖ in particular, but did not spare the ÖVP either. At the largest event in the Goethehof in Vienna-Donaustadt, party leader Andreas Babler accused the Freedom Party of attacking the democratic pillars of the Republic. Like Vienna's mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ), he once again ruled out a coalition with the FPÖ and called on the People's Party to do the same.

Babler sees democratic cornerstones from the judiciary to the Chamber of Labor to the independent media as targets of the FPÖ - and they will also attack personal freedoms and women's rights. When the Freedom Party put up posters for fortresses, they meant prisons.

"No coalition with fascism"
However, the SPÖ leader assured that he would not be deterred from making statements against the ÖVP - especially with regard to "Orbanization". Babler recalled the interwar period, saying that "back then" it all began with the radicalization of the conservatives. The shift of the People's Party to the right had made Jörg Haider and Heinz-Christian Strache great, now it was Herbert Kickl. He therefore appealed to the ÖVP to keep its distance and also rule out a coalition with the FPÖ, regardless of who was at the helm: "No coalition means no coalition with fascism."

Ludwig agreed: "No coalition with the FPÖ - with or without Kickl. There's nothing to be said about that," the mayor made clear, after the Burgenland governor Hans Peter Doskozil had recently not ruled out such a coalition "per se" and ambiguous signals had also come from the Lower Austrian SPÖ. Ludwig Babler then assured the full solidarity of the Viennese Social Democrats.

"Dollfuß destroyed democratic Austria"
Historically, the mayor opposed misinterpretations of the events of the interwar period: "When Dollfuß eliminated parliament, that was high treason. He destroyed this democratic Austria."

Renate Anderl, President of the Chamber of Labor, was also among the speakers. She also warned against parties that stir up hatred. This is a danger for people and for democracy.

FPÖ and ÖVP annoyed
The FPÖ was already annoyed with the SPÖ during the day after its federal executive duo Klaus Seltenheim and Sandra Breiteneder attacked the Freedom Party and accused them of wanting the "Orbanization" of Austria in their statement on "February thinking", among other things. FP Secretary General Christian Hafenecker spoke of historical ignorance and a certain audacity: "On the one hand, the Freedom Party of Austria was only founded 20 years later and, on the other, the Socialists were an armed military organization in the 1930s."

"Comrade Babler" should not forget that the SPÖ and its "Marxist unity within the party" were still attached to the lips of the Soviet Union with its atrocious crimes and was the only party in Austria that uniformed its youth, the Red Falcons.

VP party chairman August Wöginger sees a commemoration of "all victims who fought for a free Austria". At the same time, this commemoration must also be a reminder that respectful interaction in politics and society is the basis for peaceful coexistence.

SPÖ celebrities at the commemoration
The Social Democrats' commemorative event was attended by practically all the big names in Viennese social democracy, including the Second President of the National Council Doris Bures and former Federal President Heinz Fischer. The Goethehof was a place of resistance against the Dollfuß regime. Attacks against the building were even carried out from the air in February 1934 and parts of the building were destroyed. The Schutzbündler were eventually forced to surrender to the superior forces of the Dollfuß regime.