A conundrum for Austria—and for Europe

摘要

Fresh from one celebration last week, of his 50th birthday at a jamboree on the Austrian ski slopes, Jorg Haider has raced to another, altogether more solemn one. By February 3rd, to much European consternation, it looked as if Austria's President Thomas Klestil would have no choice but to give his approval to Mr Haider's far-right Freedom Party, along with the centre-right People's Party, to form a new coalition government. It would be the first time that a party carrying even a whiff of neo-Nazism has entered national government in Europe, let alone in a German-speaking country.