Identitarians with Demonstration in Vienna

On Saturday, the far-right Identitarians demonstrated in Vienna. According to estimates by the APA, around 200 people gathered in the afternoon at the square named after the confessed anti-Semite Karl Lueger and marched from there through the Vienna city center. Some foreign right-wing extremists were also among them. The march was accompanied by several counter-demonstrations and sit-in blockades. According to the police, 48 people were temporarily arrested.

Far-Right Code "Remigration" Chanted

From the beginning, the demonstrators, led by Martin Sellner, the face of the Identitarians for years, chanted the far-right code "remigration" several times. Directly opposite the Identitarians stood several antifascists. Apart from minor provocations - also from the Identitarians towards journalists - the demonstration began quietly. In several places, only a few meters separated the right-wing extremists and the - overall numerically superior - counter-demonstrators. A direct confrontation was prevented by the police.

In total, three sit-in blockades by counter-demonstrators were dissolved, and there were several attempts to disrupt by masked individuals, the Vienna State Police Directorate reported in the evening. 48 people were temporarily arrested, six people were reported for administrative offenses under the Assembly Act, according to the police's preliminary report. Briefly, eggs and bags filled with feces were thrown at rally participants and law enforcement officers, it was said.

SPÖ Criticizes Demonstration by Identitarians in Vienna

SPÖ Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler expressed criticism of the demonstration on the short message service Bluesky. "Hate, incitement, contempt for humanity, racism, and anti-Semitism have no place on Austria's streets," Babler wrote on Saturday, also criticizing the connections of the Identitarians to the "neo-Nazi scene" and the FPÖ.

The Greens assessed the demonstration as a "failure for the neo-fascist Identitarians." Despite months of Europe-wide mobilization, only a few hundred members and sympathizers gathered in Vienna, said the Green spokesperson for right-wing extremism, Lukas Hammer, in a statement. He described the police operation as "comparatively appropriate and de-escalating" despite criticism and criticized that parliamentary staff of the FPÖ also participated in the protest march.

This is the "parliamentary arm" of the Identitarians, which can also be seen in personnel overlaps, said Andreas Kranebitter, head of the Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance (DÖW), to the APA recently. The demonstration of the Identitarians takes place annually in the summer.

(APA/Red)

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