End of the EU? Nationalists could storm to power in Austrian election thanks to THIS man

Sebastian Kurz, also known as "Wunderwuzzi" has
successfully rebranded the Austrian People's Party
(ÖVP) and looks set to propel them into Government in
the coming elections.
The vote could spell trouble for the EU as 31-year-old
Mr Kurz has not ruled out a partnership with the
nationalist Freedom Party (FPO).
The hard right group almost seized power in the
presidential elections last year sending waves of fear
across the bloc.
Now, the parties could join making a right wing
partnership which would challenge the bloc’s
ideologies.
The coalition between the ruling Social Democratic
Party (SPÖ) of Chancellor Christian Kern and the ÖVP
collapsed in May.
Professor Peter Filzmaier, a political scientist with
Austria's Krems and Graz universities, said Mr Kurz’s
rebranding of the ÖVP is "unprecedented in Austrian
politics, but also quite logical."
He told Die Welt: "The SPÖ and the ÖVP deciding not
to govern together means there is an actual chance of
the FPÖ ending up in a governing coalition.”
Foreign Minister Mr Kurz has vowed to shake up the
Government in Austria and clamp down on migrants.
His plans include slashing benefits from migrants,
including those from the EU.
Sebastian Kurz, 31, could be set to become the
youngest country leader in the European Union
The slick politician claims credit for closing the Balkan
migrant trail in 2016 in his role as integration and
foreign minister.
"We were right to close the Balkan route and I will
fight for the Mediterranean route to be closed too," he
said in Graz.
Mr Kurz, whose nickname means "walk on water" has
rebranded the centre right party, stripping the name
from poster campaigns and changing its affiliate
colours.
He told an election rally in Austria."October 15 is our
chance for change in this country.
"And dear friends, to be honest, it is time for change."
Sebastian Kurz has rebranded the Austrian People's
Party (ÖVP)
The vote will take place on October 15, when 8.75
million people head to the polls.
Following a trend among the right wing, Mr Kurz has
brought experts into his party who have no political
experience.
Among them - a quadriplegic former pole vaulter.
Mr Kurz has an opinion poll lead of around nine points -
above the two main parties he is looking to beat to
become the EU’s youngest head of state.
The FPO, Austria's anti-immigration Freedom Party
expelled one of its officials in Tyrol province over
reports he had displayed Nazi paraphernalia in the
back of his pharmacy, a party spokesman said on
Wednesday.
The FPO, which is fighting with the Social Democrats
for the second place in parliamentary elections, has on
previous occasions expelled provincial officials for
owning Nazi-related objects, which is illegal in Austria.
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In Germany's election last Sunday, the FPO's sister
party AfD won 12.6 percent of the vote, becoming the
third-largest group in parliament and the first from the
far right to win seats in the Bundestag since the
1950s.
Austria's FPO is poised to become kingmaker as a
junior coalition party, with conservative front-runner Mr
Kurz expected to gain around a third of the vote with
his tough rhetoric on fighting immigration and Islamic
"parallel societies".
Martin Hochstoeger stepped back from his post as a
member of the FPO Tyrol party executive after
pictures were spread in Austrian media of a marble
slate engraved with a quote by Adolf Hitler, a swastika
and a tally of a local vote in 1938 favouring Austria's
annexation by Nazi Germany.
"Based on current media reports ... I had to expel Dr
Martin Hochstoeger last night after internal
deliberations," said the head of the FPO in Tyrol,
Markus Abwerzger, citing potential danger for the
party's ethos.
A spokesman for prosecutors in Tyrol's main city,
Innsbruck, said they were looking into the case. Public
broadcaster ORF said on its website Hochstoeger had
declined to comment.

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