FPÖ top candidate Wilimski is underlining his claim to be a formidable force, despite the stench of a stink bomb attack at the start of the election campaign in Vienna’s Lukner.
The Freedom Party officially launched its EU election campaign on Friday – immediately facing an attack on their “Fortress Europe”. Before leading candidate Harald Wilimski appeared, a stink bomb was thrown on stage in Vienna’s Lugner City. However, the FPÖ defied the stink and renewed its claim to become the parliamentary group with the largest number of votes in Austria in the June 9 election.
“Guys, your stink bombs don’t stink like your behavior stinks,” Wilimski told the attackers, who were identified by police, according to the FPÖ. And landowner Richard Lugner also expressed his thoughts on the incident on the campaign trail: “In a democracy you should all be allowed to express your opinion, not penalized against it.”
The rest of the election campaign started as usual from the Freedom Party. John Otti Band and FPÖ General Secretary Michael Schnetlitz acted as instigators, stirring up regular audience discontent against “climate terrorism” and Brussels harassment even before the leading candidate. In Lukner City, which was packed to the last gallery, it was clear how the “Castle of Europe” should be decorated: a sea of blue balloons and red-white-red flags.
A view of Lukner City, Friday, May 10, 2024, as part of the FPÖ election campaign launch in Vienna. What / what / Eva Manhardt
Wilimski hopes to double the current three mandates in the EU Parliament. He also noted current surveys that put the FPÖ at more than 26 percent. “This shows that our titles reflect the mood of the Austrian people better than anyone else.” But he emphasized that only the results taken on election day are taken into account.
Nothing has changed in the Freedom Party’s plan: Wilimski wants to continue to abolish “EU pork”, which means halving the commission and parliament. “The smaller the Brussels bureaucratic monster is, the less it can interfere with the lives of European citizens with more restrictions,” said the liberal top candidate. At the same time, the “madness” of the EU making people’s lives difficult must stop.
Again, Wilimski took the opportunity to talk about the Greens’ turmoil and more or less defend their front-runner Lena Schilling, at least in this case – albeit clearly on her own behalf. “There’s nobody who rejects these Greens more than me,” he said. But what is happening here is the “self-destruction” of the Left.
