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Europe
Austria
1 October 2024 Today, we have strong 'hard-right' parties and multi-party coalitions across Europe. The hard-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) won the election in Austria, which was held on 29 September. Its leader, Kickl, differs in style and character from his predecessors. He is athletic and ascetic and, so far at least, scandal-free. Kickl may be softer on the outside, but his views are far more extremist than those of your average ’far-right’ party. His election manifesto was entitled: “Fortress Austria”. The “Fortress Europe” jokes in the UK tried to depict the EU as protectionist. For the FPÖ, the idea of a fortress is an aspiration. This party appeals to an electorate that does not seek opportunity but protection – against the world we live in. Kickl seeks to change Article 1 of the Austrian constitution, which currently defines Austria as a democratic republic, where power rests with the people. The FPÖ wants to add a clause that Austria must protect itself against the EU, the World Health Organisation and the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – an eclectic choice of organisations, of all which have offended the FPÖ on several occasions. The FPÖ also wants to be able to withdraw citizenship from refugees who fail to integrate, and to introduce an emergency law which suspends the right to asylum, which would constitute a violation of the Geneva convention. The FPÖ wants to abolish laws that penalise right-wing hate speech, exert control over what teachers can say in class, and change the funding structure of the media. Revolutionaries have known since time immemorial that you have to start with the media. „To say that the FPÖ’s agenda is not compatible with membership of the EU would be an understatement”. Radicalism is what won Kickl the election but is also ’the reason why he is unlikely to become chancellor despite coming first with a 29.1 per cent share of the vote”. In the Netherlands last year, Wilders’ Party for Freedom also came first, and Wilders also failed to become prime minister ’for the same reason’. In the Netherlands, at least, standing aside has not damaged Wilders’ popularity, or that of his party If Kickl did the same, it would allow him to keep on pushing for his agenda without being bound by cabinet responsibility. It is also possible for the other Austrian parties to form a losers’ coalition. The centre-right People’s Party, headed by Austria’s current chancellor, Karl Nehammer, could form a coalition with its traditional rival, the Social Democrats. In Austria and Germany, such constellations used to be known as grand coalitions: they are not so grand anymore. A tie-up of the two largest centrist parties would have only 93 seats in Austria’s 183 seat parliament, just one seat more than the threshold for a majority. The two could bring in the liberal Neos Party, but this would be an awkward coalition of parties that have different ideas about immigration, the EU and social policy. „Keeping the hard-right out of power at all costs has proven costly for many centrist parties in Europe”. Next year the hard-right Alternative for Germany is not nearly as old and bold as the FPÖ in Austria. It is polling only at around 20 per cent. It, too, is thriving because the other parties have erected political firewalls against it. The same dynamics are at play. When voters are unhappy about immigration and about the state of the economy, they blame the parties that always end up in government. This is how Giorgia Meloni rose to power in Italy; it is why Marine Le Pen’s party is so strong in France. Long-term economic decline and insecurity are the deep causes behind much of the political instability in Europe. The advice to the centrist parties is to accept defeat when defeated, reboot their agendas, and start thinking deeply about economic reform and investment, and how to co-ordinate this across borders. (Source: newstatesman *)
* The New Statesman, a British political and cultural news magazine published in London.
by Münchau
Asia
Israel
6:02 PM EDT, Tue October 1, 2024 Israel says Iran ‘will pay’ for launching a major missile attack against it /Video/ (Source: CNN – U.S.)
14:50 GMT 1 October 2024 Israel under attack: Iran unleashes barrage of missiles and warns of 'crushing attacks if IDF responds /video, photo/ (Source: Daily Mail – United Kingdom)
Oct 2024 Israel says it will conduct 'powerful strikes' tonight throughout the Middle East, hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack at Israel. (Source: Gulf today – United Arab Emirates)
Japan
5:42 pm on 1 October 2024 Japan's incoming prime minister Ishiba reportedly wants a more "equal" alliance with the United States. Ishiba, who takes office this week is seeking the presence of Japanese forces on Guam, (Source: Radio New Zealand)
North America
United States
Oct 1, 2024, 7:08 AM Death toll at almost 150 after Hurricane Helene(Source: youtube)
at Okt. 2. 20:06): 4678 wievs
October 1, 2024 (November/December 2024 ’The party in power in Washington can change, the pillars of U.S. foreign policy will not'
(Source: foreignpolicy)
by Blinken, currently serving as the United States secretary of state.
NATO
1 October 2024 No imminent nuclear threat from Russia, says new Nato chief at his first press conference.
(Source: bbc)
Oct 1, 2024 Rutte set to assume NATO top job amid Ukraine and U.S. uncertainty.
(Source: japantimes / Reuters)
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