Herbert Kickl verbally followed up the dispute with Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen on Friday. “Van der Bellen has apparently forgotten that he is the president of a democratic republic in which the people make the law! He is not the emperor of a monarchy,” the leader of the federal party of the FPÖ grumbled at the last meeting of his Lower Austrian provincial organization.
The reason for Kickl’s warm choice of words was an ORF interview with Van der Bellen on Wednesday. With this, the head of state clearly distanced himself from Kickl. The Federal President made it clear on Wednesday that the FPÖ leader could not be sure that if he won the election, he would automatically be given the task of forming a government.
He particularly criticized the “anti-European direction of the Freedom Party” and the FPÖ’s attitude towards the war in Russia.
Kickl expressed the suspicion on Friday that Van der Bellen forgot to be president of a neutral country and not of a NATO country. As the president of a neutral country, he must condemn every offensive war, not just one.
“If anyone here has a problem with neutrality, it’s not us, it’s our Federal President!” Kickl was convinced, who also pointed out a general democratic deficit at Van der Bellen, because: “With us, the voter has the last word and decides who forms or leads a government. The voter is the only one who determines that. For me, the explanation is from our Federal President purely arbitrarily. To make it sound better, he appeals to his conscience. I will soon send him a copy of the Constitution and mark the important passages in blue.”
“Yes, what kind of head of state is that?”
Kickl was equally critical of the fact that, according to Van der Bellen, it was not permissible to criticize the EU because otherwise one would be an enemy of Europe. Van der Bellen said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and the EU were infallible.
“If you say a critical word, the elite will banish you and you should be banished to the opposition bench. But if politicians want to sell out their own country to the EU, if they want to lose neutrality and the right of veto, if they want to pay for all bankrupt countries, then according to Van der Bellen none of that is a problem. Yes, what kind of head of state is that?” The president of the FPÖ federal party was probably not the only one wondering.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
