Carinthia FPÖ re-examines Erdesz over ties to far-right milieu

Carinthian FPÖ official Erwin Angerer said of the matter: "Mir wurde gesagt, da gibt es nichts, was relevant wäre, oder dass es Konsequenzen bräuchte." He thus summarized the outcome of the internal review, which apparently did not result in any further steps.

Internal review without consequences

But now the party is coming under pressure over additional personnel connections to the far-right milieu. Although the FPÖ officially tries to distance itself from the Identitarians, it recently emerged that parliamentary staff within its ranks have ties to far-right organizations such as the Identitarians. "Er sagt, das hat es gegeben," is how internal reactions were reported.

The new case involves an invitation bearing a Wehrmacht photo from the year 2020, with which Erdesz is said to have invited people to an event. The state party announced that it would "jetzt wieder ansehen" the matter. This was the party's response to the incident that had come to light.

2020 Wehrmacht photo in focus

While the FPÖ conducts the review internally, protest is forming outside the party. The JVP Upper Austria called for a "Schulterschluss gegen Rechtsradikalismus" and thus reached out to other political youth organizations.

In a statement, the JVP said it sees "den Schutz unserer Demokratie als Grundlage für ein gutes Leben in Freiheit." The Upper Austrian JVP thus formulated a clear position against far-right tendencies.

JVP Upper Austria calls for a united front

The JVP also stressed: "Der Schutz unserer Demokratie sollte daher die gemeinsame Verantwortung aller verantwortungsvollen politischen Jugendorganisationen sein." In doing so, the organization is seeking to stand shoulder to shoulder with other youth associations.

Pressure on the Carinthian state party is therefore mounting from several directions. In addition to the new allegations surrounding the Wehrmacht photo from 2020, the previously known ties of individual parliamentary staff members to the Identitarians continue to linger.

The Carinthian FPÖ now faces the task of dealing with the allegations transparently. Whether the renewed review will lead to personnel consequences initially remained unclear. Josef Ofner, who as an official of the Freedom Youth Carinthia (Freiheitliche Jugend Kärnten) had likewise come under scrutiny, has so far not publicly commented on the new allegations.

Pressure on the state party grows

Overall, the case illustrates how difficult the Carinthian FPÖ finds it to credibly distance itself from far-right currents. While the state party outwardly emphasizes distance from the Identitarians, the individual cases that have come to light cast a different light on how the party handles such connections.

The JVP Upper Austria now apparently intends to translate its call for a united front against right-wing radicalism into concrete steps. Protest has also continued from the other political parties, which likewise want to send a clear signal against far-right tendencies within the Carinthian FPÖ.