Small parties

EU election: Öxit exit alliance wants to run

(Bild: ink drop - stock.adobe.com)

Small parties are also positioning themselves ahead of the EU elections. The EU exit alliance Öxit presented itself in Vienna on Thursday and announced its intention to collect declarations of support for its candidacy. In Graz, meanwhile, a list of opponents of the coronavirus measures, Maria Hubmer-Mogg, was presented. 

"The EU is the most undemocratic construct in the Western world", explained the spokesperson and lead candidate of the alliance, Christian Ebner, at a press conference. Ebner's Free Democrats have joined forces with other small parties and initiatives, including the Christian Party of Austria (CPÖ) and the Party for Austria, to form the "Öxit - EU exit for Austria" alliance. The declared aim of the colorful alliance is an Öxit, i.e. Austria's exit from the European Union. This is to be achieved through a referendum.

Rudolf Gehring and his CPÖ are also part of the alliance.(Bild: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)

The exit should be "faster and better" than that of Great Britain, explained Ebner. A free trade agreement should then be negotiated with the EU and accession to EFTA should follow.

Partners lost
The alliance also sees the EU elections as a "springboard for the National Council elections". Other groups also criticize the EU, but only the Öxit alliance is consistent enough to demand withdrawal, said Rudolf Gehring from the Christian Party. Originally, the EU withdrawal alliance wanted to present itself in January, but the alliance lost a partner at short notice in the form of Robert Marschall's EU withdrawal party.

Call for an end to Russia sanctions
At the same time, another small party announced its intention to run in the EU elections in Graz. Hubmer-Mogg, a doctor from Graz who has become known as an activist against the coronavirus measures, wants to stand as a candidate on the DNA (Democratic, Neutral, Authentic) list. Their demands include an independent investigation into the coronavirus policy, a rejection of the planned WHO pandemic treaty and an end to the Russia sanctions. The two parties must now collect the 2,600 declarations of support required.