After The Fall of Socialist Bloc
With the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, the KPÖ saw itself confronted with new challenges about its philosophy and future. The experiment with a moderate form of Eurocommunism did not go down well with its core supporters; however, moderate voters could not be persuaded either. The KPÖ faced difficult times as communism and communist parties throughout the world were receding.
In January 1990 two new leaders, Walter Silbermayr and Susanne Sohn, stepped in to renew the party and uncover the errors which were made in the past. The attempts by Sohn and Silbermayr to create a leftist alliance (Wahlbündnis) for the 1990 National Council elections failed. The party lost about a third of its members. In March 1991, only three months later, both chairpersons resigned, because their course of renewal was not being supported internally enough by party-members.
The party has consistently been critical of the European Community and the European Union, comparing Austria’s accession to the EU in 1995 to the Anschluß to Nazi-Germany. The party campaigned against the European Constitution in its planned form; however it does not regard leaving the European Union as an immediate priority, but more as a long-term goal.
Until 2003, there was an official celebration on the Jesuitenwiese in the Vienna Prater park normally held each year in the first weekend of September. The celebration was named Volksstimmefest, named its former party-newspaper. Due to financial reasons, the festival was unable to take place in 2004. It has however since then staged a comeback in September 2005. Today the KPÖ sees itself as part of the anti-globalisation movement as well as a feminist party. In the national elections it ran together with LINKE Liste, during the European elections 2004 as part of the Party of the European Left.
Read more about this topic: Austrian Communists
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