Just "nice appearances"?

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Is Andreas Rabl (right) a credible counterpart to his party leader, the verbal thug Herbert Kickl?

(Bild: fotokerschi.at/Werner Kerschbaummayr)

He is regarded as the friendly face of the FPÖ, has his emotions under control even in the beer tent and, as mayor, has transformed the city of Wels into a permanent event location. However, his political opponents from the Antifa now list 14 "individual cases" that shed a somewhat different light on Andreas Rabl. The FPÖ itself speaks of untenable accusations. 

Andreas Rabl has been mayor of Wels since 2015. He has virtually turned the second largest city in Upper Austria from red to blue. In public, he is seen as an eloquent doer. In his party, he is the smart antithesis to the verbal bully Herbert Kickl, and it is not only his party friends who consider him to be ministrabel.

14 "individual cases" in six years
However, there are also those from the politically opposite corner who don't believe Rabl is the feel-good man of the party. They have gone to great lengths to tarnish the 51-year-old's clean-cut image: In a 24-page brochure, Wels-based Antifa has compiled a total of 14 "individual cases" - from July 2018 to May 2024 - which are intended to reveal a fundamentally right-wing extremist and racist attitude of the Wels FPÖ leader and his party. "Behind Rabl's beautiful appearance" - the subtitle of the publication - lies "an attitude that cannot be reconciled with democracy and human rights", writes Antifa chairman Werner Retzl.

"No regrettable slips"
None of the points listed are new. "We have only used individual cases from the last few years that have been proven beyond doubt," confirms Retzl. The aim of the documentation is to show "that it is by no means a matter of regrettable 'slips', but rather a pattern," adds his deputy Christian Stöbich.

Nazi cult object erected
For example, the fact that Rabl had a replica of the "Venus of Wels" erected in the busy Schmidtgasse in 2021 is cited. The original statue was a cult object of the Nazis, with its replicas honoring "deserving men" of the NSDAP. The fact that Rabl sponsored a meeting of right-wing extremist German nationalist fraternities in September 2022 with 5,000 euros of taxpayers' money is also criticized, as is the appearance of conspiracy theorist and Holocaust trivializer Daniele Ganser in March 2023, which Rabl allowed.

"Rabl-FPÖ right-wing extremist and racist"
Antifa's conclusion after 14 listed "individual cases": "The Rabl FPÖ is an integral part of the Haimbuchner and Kickl FPÖ. It is only logical that they are just as right-wing extremist and racist."

City leader sends parliamentary group leader forward
Mayor Andreas Rabl does not want to comment on the accusations personally. However, the leader of the Wels FPÖ parliamentary group and candidate for the national elections in Herbt, Paul Hammerl, has commented: "Werner Retzl is obviously finding it difficult to accept democratically legitimized decisions. It seems as if everything that is not left-wing extremist and corresponds to his opinion is right-wing extremist and racist."

Unfortunately, Antifa Wels has completely degenerated into a political tool of a left-wing dictatorship of opinion and has lost sight of its actual purpose, the fight against fascism.

Der Welser FPÖ-Fraktionsobmann Paul Hammerl

Bild: Krone KREATIV/FPÖ Wels

"Antifa has lost sight of the fight against fascism"
The FPÖ politician goes on to say that a democratic political discourse looks different to him: "Unfortunately, Antifa Wels has completely degenerated into a political tool of a left-wing dictatorship of opinion and has lost sight of its actual purpose, the fight against fascism. Werner Retzl's accusations are untenable."