ZThe “Trip to Vienna” on Friday was called by a group that calls itself the “Austrian Farmers”. In fact, there was no interest organization behind the call, but rather a party. It was the right-wing FPÖ that briefly tried to mobilize farmers to demonstrate in front of the Federal Chancellery on Ballhausplatz in Vienna.
After the calls circulated on social media, the Austrian Farmers' Association rushed to clarify that it had nothing to do with it. On the one hand, the Farmers' Association is the strongest agricultural interest group with more than 300,000 members, but at the same time it is also a subdivision of the Christian Democratic ÖVP.
The FPÖ agriculture spokesman Peter Schmielechner, who appeared as a speaker, may have hoped for images like those in Germany, where he mingled with like-minded people from the AfD at a farmers' demonstration last week. But there was no sign of columns of tractor drivers. There were perhaps a dozen tractors at Ballhausplatz.
The farmers are represented in the government
Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig (ÖVP) didn't see it himself, he visited the Green Week in Berlin. From there he expressed himself rather condescendingly about the “blue” FPÖ’s attempt to ride the wave of farmers’ protests. That is unfortunate, because the situation is completely different: “In Germany, dialogue is required, in Austria it is a lived reality.” And in Vienna, the farmers are directly represented in the government.
Before he joined the government in 2022, Totschnig was director of the Farmers' Association. At the same time, the Agriculture Minister tried to divert attention from farmers' dissatisfaction towards Brussels. “The Green Deal pushes our farmers to the limits,” he said in Berlin. Although he is fundamentally behind this initiative, there is too much bureaucracy.
The FPÖ and ÖVP hope for the votes of farmers
However, the ÖVP cannot be too sure that its traditional clientele is completely behind it. If you looked around among the more than a hundred demonstrators, there were some voices that denied the ÖVP an effective commitment to the farmers and, above all, complained about the excessive bureaucracy. They don't all have to be people who have been close to the FPÖ for a long time. With a view to the National Council election, which is due this fall at the latest, the right-wing party, which is currently leading all polls, wants to pick up what needs to be picked up here too.
In view of the small group, FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl wisely stayed away and contented himself with a statement of solidarity on Facebook. Instead, Schmiedlechner raged against requirements and regulations. People are flooded with cheap Ukrainian grain and are now supposed to eat maggots instead of meat. During the pandemic, the party was very successful in riding the wave against Corona measures. The farmers were now more modest.
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