Syria’s state government will be led by the far-right Austrians for the first time

On Tuesday, the far-right Freedom Party of Austria, which emerged victorious in a state election in Styria last month, announced a coalition agreement that will see its leader appointed governor of the southern state.

The dynamic former leader of the Euroskeptic, Russia-friendly Freedom Party (FPO), Joerg Haider, will be leading one of Austria’s nine states for the first time since he was governor of Carinthia in the 2000s.

Compared to the three weeks it took to secure a coalition agreement, national coalition negotiations are still going on after the country’s general election on September 29. Even though the revived FPO won the general election, they were not invited to participate in those discussions.

The leader of the party in Styria, Mario Kunasek, told a news conference that the FPO and the conservative People’s party (OVP), which it will form a coalition with, had demonstrated the capacity to listen to one another and get over the disagreements that “distinguishes us in our political culture from others.”

That seemed to be a jab at OVP Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who had previously and following the general election in September said he would not form a government with Herbert Kickl, the head of the FPO.

With roughly 29% of the national vote, the FPO would have need a coalition partner in order to establish a government. Nehammer was charged by President Alexander Van der Bellen with creating a government because all other legislative parties refused to govern with it. He is negotiating a coalition with two other parties.

From regional concerns like hospital provision to anti-“Islamism” measures like prohibiting state administration staff from wearing religious attire, Kunasek laid forward some suggestions for Syria.