"Krone" commentary

Kickl will not be Wilders

Analyzed for the "Krone": Andreas Mölzer(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com)

A full six months after the far-right Geert Wilders and his Party for Freedom won the election in Holland, the Dutch are now also getting a new government in the form of a four-party coalition.

According to reports, this government will be more far-right than any other to date, although the election winner Wilders will not be allowed to become head of government due to objections from his future coalition partners. A variant that political observers believe could also be possible in Austria after the upcoming national elections.

ON THE ONE HAND, with this personal renunciation, the Dutch right-wing leader has prevented the threat of new elections and then possibly the re-establishment of a political center-left government. And he has thus enabled a fundamental political turnaround for his country, in particular towards an extremely tough migration policy.

ON THE OTHER hand, it is questionable in terms of democratic policy if smaller political groups can force the election winner, who enjoys considerable voter confidence, to relinquish leadership of the government. And as far as Austria is concerned, Herbert Kickl's election victory could be even clearer than that of Geert Wilders. And the Freedom Party in this country had bad experiences with renouncing the chancellorship a good 20 years ago under Jörg Haider. So a blue government is probably only possible with Kickl.