Posters "terrible"

Schieder “shocked” by FPÖ election campaign

SPÖ lead candidate for the EU elections, Andreas Schieder

(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

The SPÖ's top candidate for the EU elections, Andreas Schieder, is "somewhat shocked" by the Freedom Party's campaign style: "The FPÖ posters are terrible and show a terrible view of the world and are not worthy of a normal election campaign," says the red list leader in an interview. Schieder wants to stay out of the debate about private statements made by the Green top candidate Lena Schilling.

The Freedom Party is extremely critical of the EU on its posters and throughout its campaign, with one motif suggesting a kind of sibling kiss between Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj. Schieder says he is not surprised by the FPÖ, which he sees on the way to an "Öxit". That is why he is also focusing on content and on showing that the election is about either making Europe fairer or letting it drift to the right.

Hijacked web addresses are "food for thought"
Schieder clearly does not consider it a problem that his party has hijacked web addresses that would normally have been assigned to the FPÖ. It is not a "foul", says the top candidate when asked, but "food for thought". Less Europe is a "very dangerous path". The campaign with the web addresses is a way of drawing attention to this topic in the media - "a way to make people think".

Surprisingly, the URL fpö.eu contains election advertising by Schieder - for him, this is "food for thought".

(Bild: Screenshot fpö.eu)

FPÖ counters: "SPÖ stands for Brussels centralization madness"
The Freedom Party reacted on Saturday with counter-attacks on Schieder from top candidate Harald Vilimsky. If there was anything to be shocked about, it was the "terrible policy of the SPÖ", which regularly betrays Austria's interests both at home and in Europe: "The SPÖ and its left-wing cronies stand for mass immigration into the social system, the Brussels centralization madness, the loss of jobs due to the crazy climate measures and the promotion of record taxation."

On Schilling: "Affair has nothing to do with our election campaign"
Back to Schieder: the red top candidate does not want to touch on the debate about Schilling's private statements, which have been widely reported in recent days, especially by tabloid newspapers. This was a matter for Schilling and the Greens to answer. He had "enough other things" to do in the election campaign. Schieder sidestepped the question of whether such private statements had any place in a public discussion: "I don't want to comment any further on this affair, it has nothing to do with our election campaign."

Schieder calls for more pro-European and social voices
The red top candidate does have an opinion on the appointment of the Austrian post in the EU Commission, which is due in the summer or fall: "So far, it has always been about providing an ÖVP politician and Europe is too bad for that." There therefore needs to be an open discussion about what qualifications and political direction the person should have. It is clear that more pro-European and social voices are needed in Europe.

Appointment of Commissioner in a "backroom deal"
Schieder did not want to specify how the post should be filled outside of the normal procedure. Asked whether the strongest party should be given the position, he said that this was one of several possibilities. What he rejects, however, are "backroom deals". Apparently, the ÖVP and the Greens had already agreed in the government agreement that the People's Party would once again appoint the Commissioner: "The 2024 post was already sold off in a backroom deal in 2019."