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- WORLD, Page 63World NotesAUSTRIA Notch One for Nativism
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- Jorg Haider will not say he is antiforeigner, but rather that
- he is "native-friendly." Semantics aside, what Haider stands for
- is abundantly clear to the Viennese, who last week gave his
- far-right Freedom Party 22.6% of the vote in provincial
- elections. So popular was Haider's proposal for an immediate
- halt to immigration into Austria -- there are currently about
- 500,000 foreigners living in a population of 7.8 million -- that
- his party displaced the conservative People's Party as the No.
- 2 power in the state.
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- For Haider, the results in Vienna marked the third strong
- showing of his party at the polls in as many months. It has been
- a remarkable comeback for someone who was driven from office as
- governor of the province of Carinthia only last June. Reason:
- Haider lauded Nazi Germany's "employment policy." The statement
- was widely interpreted as an endorsement of slave labor and
- concentration camps. Haider's antiforeigner campaign has struck
- a chord with Austrians dissatisfied with a government they
- consider directionless.
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