World

Haider Defies EU Critics

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 28, 2000 / 5:00 PM EST / CBS

Controversial Austrian politician Joerg Haider on Thursday told CBS News that his decision to give up the leadership of the far-right Freedom Party had nothing to do with international pressure mounting in the wake of the party's inclusion in Austria's government.

Furthermore, Haider said European Union critics - who he accused of hypocrisy -- would not be able to function without Austria.

Haider, who gave up the leadership of the Freedom Party on Monday, denied that his decision was inspired by anything other than the demands of his role as governor of the Austrian province of southern Carinthia.

"I am elected governor of one of the Austrian states," he said. "and, therefore, I need my time to work in the government and to fulfill my duties as governor of Carinthia. I can't do both -- to lead the freedom party on the national level and work for my people."

The EU, as well as Israel and the United States, responded to Haider's decision Monday to step down as head of the Freedom Party with skepticism, saying Austria's diplomatic isolation would continue so long as his party remains in government.

But Haider dismissed the pressure against Vienna as ineffective at best, hypocritical at worst.

"I know that the European Union is wrong," he said. "The European Union made a decision against Austria without having any reason and any arguments against Austria because Austria is one of the most developed democracies in the world."

"Austria has been open during all this, all the decades in the last period from refugees coming from all over the world, especially from Europe. Therefore, we don't accept the critics of the European union because they have to sweep the floor before their own door."

As governor of, he plays no formal role in federal Austrian politics. Still, his influence is believed undiminished, both within the Freedom Party and on the workings of the governing coalition of his party and the conservative People's Party.

Haider said the European Union could not isolate Austria because it needed Vienna's vote in order to carry out unanimous decisions in accordance with the 15-member contract.

"if they need the Austrian vote, they have to accept us and not to declare us pariahs," he said.

Haider, who had led the Freedom Party since 1986, won notoriety for past statements supporting of Waffen SS veterans and Adolf Hitler's "orderly" employment policies. His party tapped widespread concern over the impact of immigration and EU expansion on Austrian jobs to finish second in parliamentary election in October, winning 52 of the 183 seats in the national assembly.