Identitäre Bewegung Österreichs

Identitäre Bewegung Österreichs
Formation 2012
Type
Leader Martin Sellner

The Identitarian Movement of Austria (German: Identitäre Bewegung Österreichs, IBÖ) is an Austrian right-wing nationalist and new right organization. Inspired by the French Bloc identitaire, it belongs to the pan-European Identitarian movement.

The IBÖ opposes liberalism, internationalism, Islam and Islamism, multiculturalism and the melting pot model, instead advocating for ethnopluralism. It has been categorized as being part of the overall Neue Rechte movement by several government agencies and NGOs, including the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism and the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance; likewise, close ties to several irredentist Deutsche Burschenschaft Österreich (DBÖ) and the neo-Nazi scene have been documented.[1][2][3]

History

The first Identitarian Austrian organization was founded in spring 2012 and called "WIR - Wiens Identitäre Richtung" (We - Vienna's Identitarian Course/School) and led by Alexander Markovics. Later in the same year the "Identitäre Bewegung Österreichs" was founded by Martin Sellner, Patrick Lenart, and Alexander Markovics among others. The first nation-wide media presence occurred in May 2013 as a reaction to the Identitarian so-called counter-occupation of the Votive Church in Vienna against protesting asylum seekers[4].

On April 27 2018 several facilities of the Identitarian Movement were searched by the Austrian police, and investigations were started against its leader Martin Sellner on suspicion that a criminal organization was being formed[5]. The newspaper Österreich reported that according to the Identitarians the homes of Sellner and co-leader Patrick Lenart were also raided, computers and documents impounded and the account of the Identitarians in Hungary was closed[6]. On July 4, ten members and seven sympathizers of the movement were accused of spreading "radical, alien and Islamophobic ideology" and selling propaganda material over the Internet, and tried in Graz on charges of criminal association, incitement, property damage, coercion, and personal injury.

On July 26th, the court ruled that the IBÖ was not a criminal organization and acquitted all defendants of incitement and criminal association, though two defendants were fined for material damage, one for coercion and assault.[7][8]

Ideology

The IBÖ opposes Islamism, multiculturalism and the melting pot model, instead advocating for ethnopluralism. Disapproving of everything they consider being rooted in American imperialism, they oppose Austria's NATO partnership as well as the international sanctions against Russia. Economically, they reject capitalism, communism and socialism in favor of essentialist Third Way economics, promoting a syncretic approach to anti-capitalist and anti-globalist politics and favoring an independent alliance of sovereign nation states with Russia. On their website and Facebook page, they cite the works of Aleksandr Dugin, Dominique Venner, and Alain de Benoist as major influences.

Activities

  • In February 2013, nine members of the IBÖ attempted a counter-occupation of the Viennese Votive Church that had previously been occupied by refugees to protest living conditions within the government-owned and privately administrated refugee camps they've been assigned to. They were arrested and escorted off the premises by SWAT officers several hours later following the pastor's request for police assistance.[9]
  • On November 10, 2013, the IBÖ briefly occupied a balcony of the Fundamental Rights Agency until police officers arrived to escort them off the premises.[10]
  • On May 17, 2014, the IBÖ attempted to stage another rally in Vienna's main shopping mile Mariahilfer Straße. Despite having been provided with a protective detail by the Federal Police, they were unable to gain access to their planned route as a result of a considerably larger anti-racist counter demonstration. While interaction between the two demonstrations was minimal and largely restricted to a verbal level, State Director Gerhard Pürstl received heavy criticism from both activist groups and national media outlets over the use of heavy-handed riot control tactics. 37 anti-racist protesters were arrested; a banner that Federal Police officers confiscated from a group of activists was later put on display on the IBÖ's website.[11]
  • On April 14, 2016, a group of roughly 40 IBÖ activists entered University of Vienna's Audimax lecture hall where they stormed the stage while a play by the Jewish playwright and novelist Elfriede Jelinek was being performed by refugee actors. The activists used a megaphone and a banner poured with fake blood to accuse the audience of being hypocrites while documenting the incident photographically. Attendants of the play report being physically attacked by IBÖ members, although the IBÖ categorically denies accusations of engaging in political violence. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism reports a total of eight charges of assault with grievous bodily harm filed by both members of the audience and IBÖ activists, which are being processed;[12] the Federal Police has dropped all felony charges and announced that it is merely investigating the possibility of an unlawful public disturbance.[13][14] Heinz-Christian Strache, the leader of the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria released a statement on Facebook where he called the stage invasion "peaceful". [15]
On the 27th of that month, the group protested the same play at the Burgtheater by scaling the building and displayed a banner with the word "HEUCHLER!" ("hypocrites") from the roof and dropping leaflets.[16]

See also

Media

References

  1. ↑ m.b.H., STANDARD Verlagsgesellschaft. "Dokumentationsarchiv stuft Identitäre als rechtsextrem ein". Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "DÖW - Erkennen - Rechtsextremismus - Neues von ganz rechts - Archiv - Mai 2014 - Rechtsextreme demonstrieren in Wien (Identitäre Bewegung Österreich)". www.doew.at. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  3. ↑ "Neonazis übernehmen die "Identitäre Bewegung" - Störungsmelder". 16 December 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  4. ↑ Christine Eckes: Ausbreitung der "Identitären Bewegung" in Europe und ihre ideologischen Grundlagen, (i.e. "Expansion of the "Identitarian Movement" in Europe and its ideological foundations). In: Journal EXIT-Deutschland. Zeitschrift für Deradikalisierung und demokratische Kultur (i.e. Journal EXIT-Germany. Magazine for de-radicalization and democratic culture), Volume 4, 2017. ISSN 2196-8136.
  5. ↑ Ermittlungen in Österreich - Durchsuchungen bei "Identitärer Bewegung", Tagesschau, 04/28/2018.
  6. ↑ Hausdurchsuchung bei Identitären-Chef, Österreich, 04/27/2018.
  7. ↑ "Identitären-Prozess: Angeklagte von Vorwurf der Verhetzung freigesprochen". Der Standard. July 26, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Mitglieder der Identitären Bewegung größtenteils freigesprochen". Der Spiegel. July 26, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Neun "identitäre Wiener" besetzten Votivkirche". Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "Rechtspopulisten besetzen EU-Agentur". 31 May 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  11. ↑ m.b.H., STANDARD Verlagsgesellschaft. ""Identitäre" marschieren durch Wien, Festnahmen und Verletzte". Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "Identitäre stürmen „Schutzbefohlenen"- Aufführung im Audimax - ÖH Uni Wien". www.oeh.univie.ac.at. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  13. ↑ m.b.H., STANDARD Verlagsgesellschaft. "Identitäre im Audimax: Keine Störung einer Versammlung". Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  14. ↑ footage (2016-04-17), Identitäre stürmen Die Schutzbefohlenen im Audimax in Wien Teil 2, retrieved 2017-03-13
  15. ↑ m.b.H., STANDARD Verlagsgesellschaft. "Strache findet Identitären-Theatersturm "friedlich"". Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  16. ↑ m.b.H., STANDARD Verlagsgesellschaft. "Protest gegen Jelinek-Stück: "Identitäre" kletterten auf Burgtheater" (in German). Retrieved 2018-04-27.
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