The Freedom Party of Austria (German: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a political party in Austria. Ideologically, the party is a direct descendant of the German national liberal camp, which dates back to the 1848 revolutions. The FPÖ itself was founded in 1956 as the successor to the short-lived Federation of Independents (VdU), which had been founded seven years earlier. In the Austrian political landscape, the FPÖ was from its foundation a third party with only modest support until it entered into government together with the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), following the elections in 1983.
When Jörg Haider was chosen as new FPÖ party leader in 1986, the party started a political and ideological journey which was described by observers as representing a turn towards right-wing populism. This new political course soon resulted in a strong surge in electoral support for the party, although it also led the SPÖ to break its ties. In 1993, after a controversial proposal on immigration issues, the adherents of a position closer to classical liberalism in the FPÖ broke away and formed the (now-marginalized) Liberal Forum (LiF). This new party took over the FPÖ's membership in the Liberal International, since the FPÖ considered itself forced to leave.
In the 1999 legislative election, the FPÖ won its best-ever result in a national election with 26.9% of the vote and defeated the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) by a small margin. This led the ÖVP to agree to form a coalition government with the FPÖ. The coalition was initially subject to sanctions from the European Union, which claimed that the coalition was "legitimis the extreme right in Europe." The FPÖ soon became uncomfortable with its new government position and fell sharply in support in the 2002 election, where it gained only 10% of the vote. The two parties agreed to continue their coalition following the election; however, increasing internal disagreements in the FPÖ led Haider and many leading party members (including the FPÖ part of the government) to defect from the party in 2005. They formed a new party, the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ), which replaced the FPÖ as government partner with the ÖVP. Since then, the chairman of the FPÖ has been Heinz-Christian Strache and the party has again attracted an increase in its popular support.
Read more about Freedom Party Of Austria: Ideology, International Relations, Party Leaders
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