The History of Austria 35
sign a statement that promised to reject discrimination and
intolerance, uphold European values, respect ethnic and
religious minorities, accept Austria’s role in Nazi crimes and
promote EU expansion. This was achieved, but critics were
not appeased. The government tried to fight the sanctions
but met strong resistance. Finally, it was agreed that the
president of the European Commission on Human Rights
would name a group of ‘three wise men’, who would monitor
the ‘political nature’ of the FPÖ and the conduct of the
Austrian government towards minorities and immigrants. The
commission’s findings, although critical in many aspects, did
not find the situation in Austria worse than in other European
countries. Sanctions were eventually lifted in September
- Haider, who was once again elected governor of
Carinthia in 1999, stepped down as head of the FPÖ at the
end of February 2000.
In 2002, the government collapsed due to in-fighting.
Elections were held in November 2002, and this time
the Freedom Party came in a distant third, only getting
10 per cent of the vote, less than half of the support it received
in the previous elections. The ÖVP, which received the most
votes, formed another coalition government with a much
weaker FPÖ.
Recent Developments
In April 2004, Heinz Fischer was elected president, the first
Social Democrat to hold that position since 1986. He is very
well liked.
Werner Faymann (SPÖ) is the new Chancellor replacing
Alfred Gusenbauer in January 2007. He was asked by
Federal President Heinz Fischer on 8 October to form a
new Government. A coalition was formed between the SPÖ
and the ÖVP on December 2008. Currently, 22 per cent
are pleased by the performance of the coalition of Social
Democrats (SPÖ) and the People’s Party (ÖVP). However,
16 per cent said they were in favour of cooperation between
SPÖ and the Greens which, indeed, happened to Vienna.
On October 2010, the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and Greens
agreed on the first Red-Green government at a regional level
