(JNi.media) Heinz-Christian Strache, a member of parliament and Chairman of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), who is running for mayor of Vienna next month, blames the US and NATO for the refugee crisis that is now engulfing Europe, Reuters reported, dubbing Strache “Far-Right Leader.”
“The USA for decades has started fires in the Middle East and then has then the chutzpah to claim that responsibility for the flood of refugees unleashed lies with Europe. That’s geostrategic detribalization at its finest,” Strache wrote on his Facebook page.
“The USA and NATO have destroyed Iraq and Libya with their military intervention, bombs and missiles; provided financial, logistical and military support to the opposition against President Assad in Syria, and thus made possible the destruction, chaos, suffering and radical Islamism (IS) in the region,” Strache, who prefers being addressed as HC, wrote.
According to Reuters, Strache’s FPO party—which is leading both Social Democrats and the People’s Party coalition partners in current polls—”typically espouses anti-Muslim and isolationist approaches to dealing with foreign policy.” But Strache is renowned for his declaration, back in 2011: “I am not hostile to foreigners!” The consensus in the Austrian media is that the up and coming political leader, in a manner reminiscent of American presidential hopeful Donald Trump, often starts out with a headline grabbing, provocative statement, which he then walks back.
Echoing a statement made last Thursday by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Strache told radio broadcaster ORF: “We don’t want an Islamisation of Europe. We don’t want our Christian-Western culture to perish,” he said.
In the 2010 Vienna elections for mayor, city council, and district councils, Strache’s party received 26% of the vote, increasing its number of seats in the city council to 27. The party’s support was strongest among young people under 30.