Organizers say the demonstration will move from the University of Vienna to the parliament on Thursday evening, drawing 15,000 to 17,000 people.
The “Thursday Demonstration” runs through Vienna’s city center from 7:30 p.m. According to organizers, before the 15-17,000 demonstrators left the University of Vienna, some activists gave speeches to underline the goal of the protest: no central government with FPÖ participation. The demo will proceed to Parliament, where a final rally will be held. “The FPÖ is a security problem,” the moderator shouted at the participants.
The first speaker to make clear the seriousness of the situation was comedian and trans activist Stephanie Stankovic: “I hate that we have to be here. I hate that we have right-wing fascists. After the election, Austria “woke up in the 1940s”. Activist Asma Ayad dedicated her speech to institutionalized anti-Muslim racism in Austria. As evidence, he cited mosque closures, “Operation Luxor” or the political Islam documentary site, and the controversial “Islam Map”.
For women’s rights, against anti-Semitism
Author Eva Geber sees the FPÖ as a threat to women’s rights in particular. Wherever he rules, women’s rights are taken away. This is demonstrated by the Salzburg “stove bonus” and less money for protection against violence. Alon Ishai, president of the Jewish Student Association, dedicated his speech to anti-Semitism: “Alarm bells are ringing among young Jews.” It went so far that he asked himself whether he would leave Austria if there was a blue chancellor: “Escape was not impulsive, it was deliberate and omnipresent.”
Earlier, organizers expected 5,000 to 10,000 participants, but there could be a few more. Several organizations such as SOS Mitmensch and “Grandmothers Against the Right” participated in the demonstration, but also political groups such as the “Left” Party or the Socialist Youth. The Vienna Greens, like the SPÖ women, chanted, “Fix ZAM against the right!” They called to participate in the demo under the slogan.
Organizers estimate 15,000 to 17,000 participants. APA/Roland Schlager
Green supports the demo
Green Club leadership also participated in the demo, along with Sigrid Maurer and Mary Dzoski. Before the start, the Green Club leader told ABA: “Civil society commitment against right-wing extremism is important, and it is important to remind others of their promises before the election,” noting statements from several high-ranking ÖVP representatives not to make. An alliance with Herbert Giggle. “The most important office of the state must not fall into the hands of right-wing extremists,” he said, contradicting the ÖVP and the SPÖ, who believed that the party with the most votes recently should propose the head of the National Council.
“This is a very important evening. Many people who did not vote for the FPÖ have the opportunity to take action,” the organization’s spokeswoman Natalie Assmann said on Thursday, explaining to APA in advance why they were demonstrating before the first study talks. “So these people can be heard during coalition negotiations.” However, no further demonstrations are currently planned.
The organizers hoped above all that there would be no disruptive activities from the right wing such as the identitarians. There is no trace of this at the start of the demo. In response to an APA request, the Vienna State Police Directorate insisted it had “adequate” personnel on site.
Demonstration in the city of Vienna. APA/Roland Schlager
A legacy from the first FPÖ participation in government
The first Thursday demonstration took place almost 25 years ago. After the first Black-Blue coalition took office in February 2000, more than 150,000 people gathered in Vienna’s Heldenplatz against the new ÖVP-FPÖ government and its feared “racism and social cuts”. Over the next two years, weekly rallies with thousands of demonstrators took place. At one point, protesters entered the Hotel Marriott where then-FPÖ Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser and ÖVP Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel were arriving. There were also “counter-readings” in which many participated, including Elfriede Jelinek.
After 18 years, the protest was again held. Since October 2018, people have taken to the streets against the turquoise-blue under the slogan “It’s Thursday again” under ÖVP Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz and FPÖ Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strauch. Not only in Vienna, but also in cities like Linz or Innsbruck. Thursday’s demonstrations came to a natural end when the Ibiza issue broke the coalition. (APA)
