34 CultureShock! Austria
to third place, although it won the same number of seats in
the Nationalrat as the FPÖ. Political analysts argue that the
FPÖ did so well because Austrians were fed up with the two
main parties. During the campaign, Haider had spoken out
against the Proporz system, the large number of immigrants
in Austria and EU expansion to the east, while promoting the
need to restructure the social security system. These were
all highly sensitive issues. Not only did the party do well in
the conservative Alpine regions, as was expected, but its
popularity in Vienna grew as well.
The head of the Socialists, Viktor Klima, said that his
party would refuse to form a coalition government with
the FPÖ, and so entered into negotiations with the ÖVP,
which dragged on for months. Finally in January 2000,
the Socialist Party informed the president—who was
opposed to an ÖVP-FPÖ coalition—that it could not form
a government.
The ÖVP and the FPÖ immediately entered into talks, and
an agreement was quickly reached. On 4 February 2000, the
new coalition government assumed power, with the ÖVP
(‘Blacks’) responsible for running the political portfolios,
and the FPÖ (‘Blues’) managing financial and social issues.
Many Austrians peacefully showed their discontent with the
coalition: in February 2000, Vienna saw its largest postwar
rally with approximately 200,000 demonstrators.International Reaction
International reaction was swift and harsh. The other
EU members imposed bilateral diplomatic sanctions; all
diplomatic contact was to be kept to a minimum and there
would be no support for Austria in international forums.
France and Belgium were the staunchest opponents. Austria
considered EU sanctions ‘unjust and exaggerated’. Other
countries, including Israel and the United States, also showed
disapproval. Economically, only the tourism and conference
sectors were marginally affected.
The Austrian government faced the immense task of
legitimising itself. President Thomas Klestil agreed to accept
the ÖVP-FPÖ government on the condition that party leaders