Austrian far right signs deal with Putin's party, touts Trump ties

[highplainsdem]

Source: Reuters

Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPO) offered on Monday to act as a go-between for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin after signing a cooperation agreement with Putin's party.

Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache and the FPO's recently defeated presidential candidate Norbert Hofer attended the signing ceremony in Moscow, as did officials of Putin's United Russia party including Pyotr Tolstoy, a deputy chairman of the lower house of parliament.

The FPO has long taken a pro-Russia stance, calling for an end to European Union sanctions against Moscow imposed over the annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine. It has also denied allegations that it receives funding from Moscow.

On a recent visit to the United States, FPO officials met people close to President-elect Donald Trump, including his pick for national security adviser Michael Flynn, the FPO said in a statement announcing the Russian deal.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-austria-farright-russia-idUSKBN1481MJ

[elleng]

1. Here we go!

Watched the Sound of Music last night, and it sure did bring 'analogy' to mind.

[PatSeg]

4. Every day

our nightmares become more and more real.

[Lithos]

2. Ah, the FPO, a party founded by a former Nazi official and SS officer

And like the Nazi party of old, is an identity cult with a singular leader who is the party at a given moment. And what should sound familiar, it blames immigrants for the woes of the worker, uses a lot of PR trickery to appeal to the populace giving too-simple of answers to very tricky problems, promotes a bigoted and hateful message, and of course pretends it's a crusader for the common worker.

They attack both the center right and the center left parties as incompetents and sell-outs.

So, while the FPO are not "Nazis", they are "Nazis". And very much in the mold of what Trump is seeking. It also is exactly what Putin is at the moment.

Dangerous company who recognizes the ideology of Trump and the alt-Right.

[Jeroen]

3. I feel sicker every day n/t

[JudyM]

5. Yeah, this is careening out of democratic control.