Antifascism or Isolationism? (with thoughts on Haider) -- LIFEBOAT

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Date Posted: 14:58:30 02/10/00 Thu
Author: W.H.
Subject: Antifascism or Isolationism? (with thoughts on Haider)

No political group that I have heard of outside the German-speaking world is taking any collective stance on the new Austrian government and European etc. reactions to it other than the anti-democratic "Get Haider" reflex.

Haider has been making overtures to the Blair government, praising Tony Blair as an individual and stressing the similarities between the Freedom Party's programme and New Labour's. He wants to have the British government playing the role of intermediary between Austria and the hostile EU. Haider is right. There is not much programmatic difference between New Labour and Haider's Freedom Party. People in Britain should start telling Labour to overcome its complexes and acknowledge this. A Tony Blair sharing photo opportunities with a character like Haider is surely a much more amusing prospect than Blair in his current incarnation as macabre henchman to Clinton.

Haider's influence is going to increase in Germany, particularly with the crisis in the Christian Democrats.

Perhaps there has been a small political breakthrough in Athens. A group called "Forum for Citizens' Democracy" voted the following resolution, unanimously, on the night of Tuesday 8th February:

"The Forum for Citizens' Democracy opposes any attempt by international power centres to make an entire people, whether called Jews, Iraqis, Serbs or Austrians, into symbols of and scapegoats for xenophobia, bigotry and racism.

The stance of the EU governments towards the newly-elected government of Austria clearly undermines those governments' declared intention of establishing a democratic European polity at a higher level than that of the nation state.

We find entirely understandable the statement of the Yugoslav government representative who characterised the European governments' stance on Austria as merely "another example of interference in the internal affairs of other countries (which show that) anything is possible today in a Europe that serves America and not itself".

The European Union suffers from an extremely serious democratic deficit, even from the viewpoint of the inadequate representative democratic principles it itself invokes. If the elected representatives of European citizens cannot defend the national sovereignty and the democratic rights of all the people of the EU, then it is up to the active citizens of Europe to create more suitable and more effective institutions - such as alternative legislative bodies, referenda, selection of office holders by sortition, citizens' legislative initiatives - which give them this power."

Forum for Citizens' Democracy� 30-1-3648300 (geoko@eexi.gr)

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Replies:

Re: Antifascism or Isolationism? (with thoughts on Haider) -- SwimmingUpstream, 09:21:10 02/11/00 Fri
- Re: Antifascism or Isolationism? (with thoughts on Haider) -- Binkie, 18:21:05 02/19/00 Sat