Austria’s far-right Freedom Party tries to clean up pro-Nazi image

The far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) announces a bid to clean up its pro-Nazi image by appointing a committee of historians to look into its history.

The move comes two months after the party, launched by former Nazis, joined the government and follows a series of scrapes involving its members.

In late January a regional official caught up in a scandal over a 1997 student fraternity songbook with lyrics glorifying Nazis was forced to resign.

“There’s been a lot of criticism of the FPOe, much of it unjustified, some, we have to say, justified,” parliamentary group leader Walter Rosenkranz tells a press conference.

“We face the latent criticism that within the FPOe Nazi and neo-Nazi ideas are tolerated.

“No, they are not tolerated and those who think they can impose such ideas on us have nothing to do in the party,” Rosenkranz says.

— AFP