- Title: Austria’s far-right Freedom party shrugs off election defeat
- Date: 6th December 2016
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (DECEMBER 6, 2016) (REUTERS) FORMER AUSTRIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, NORBERT HOFER, ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE BEHIND AUSTRIAN FREEDOM PARTY LEADER, HEINZ-CHRISTIAN STRACHE MEDIA HOFER, (SECOND FROM LEFT) AND AUSTRIAN FREEDOM PARTY OFFICIALS SITTING IN FRONT OF BANNER READING (German): "THANK YOU AUSTRIA" (SOUNDBITE) (German) AUSTRIAN FREEDOM PARTY LEADER, HEINZ-CHRISTIAN STRACHE, SAYING: "Nobody should believe now that we'll now sit depressed in a corner and lick our wounds. No, we go by the motto 'after elections is before elections' and we look ahead with optimism. We'll continue working in high revs. Our goal in the next election is naturally and clearly to become the strongest party in Austria because only then will we have the political and democratic possibility to unblock this encrusted, seized system of political parties that I described before." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (German) FORMER AUSTRIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, NORBERT HOFER, SAYING: "I am not for the exit of Austria from the European Union. I want us to push for a positive development of the European Union, within the framework of a subsidiary union, not within the framework of the united states of Europe model in which Austria would have minority rights, because our history is totally different from the U.S., because we grew differently and need a tight meshing between member states. That popped up in the campaign debate about a European army." AUSTRIAN PRESIDENTIAL RACE RUNNER-UP NORBERT HOFER AND AUSTRIAN FREEDOM PARTY STANDING UP AND HUGGING, POSING FOR MEDIA
- Embargoed: 21st December 2016 14:25
- Keywords: Austria Election FPO Strache Hofer
- Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- City: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- Country: Austria
- Reuters ID: LVA0015BQYO1Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPO) said on Tuesday (December 6) it will focus on parliamentary elections after their candidate Norbert Hofer failed to become Europe's first democratically elected far-right head of state since World War Two.
"Nobody should believe now that we'll now sit depressed in a corner and lick our wounds. No, we go by the motto 'after elections is before elections' and we look ahead with optimism. We'll continue working in high revs," FPO leader Karl-Heinz Strache told a press conference Tuesday (December 6) in Vienna.
The FPO is hoping for elections ahead of their regular date in 2018, seeks to increase the number of votes in parliament from the present 36 to more than 60, or one-third of the total 183.
"Our goal in the next elections is naturally and clearly to become the strongest party in Austria because only then will we have the possibility to unblock this encrusted, seized system of political parties that I described before," Strache said.
Hofer, who on Sunday lost a repeat run-off vote to the Greens rival Alexander Van der Bellen with 46.2 to 53.8 per cent, moved to clarify that he is not pushing for Austria to step out of the European Union, but to reform the 28-state bloc.
"I am not for the exit of Austria from the European Union. I want us to push for a positive development of the European Union, within the framework of a subsidiary union, not within the framework of the united states of Europe model in which Austria would have minority rights," Hofer said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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