Austria's FPO launches anti-EU campaign
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Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 08, 2006 11:30
Austria's right-wing Freedom Party has launched a petition aimed, among other things, at vetoing Turkey's entry into the EU. The party's goal is to collect a minimum of 100,000 signatures which then would oblige the country's parliament to debate the issue. During a week of campaigning under the slogan "Osterrich bleib frei" [Keep Austria free], the Freedom Party, led by Hans-Christian Strache, will call on Austria's six million voters to sign the appeal, according to a report by Euractiv.
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The appeal also seeks to force the government to lower its contributions to the EU, to hold a referendum on Austria's membership of the Union, and for Austria to retain its military neutrality.
In October 2005, the Austrian government attempted to prevent the EU from formally opening membership talks with Ankara. Austria holds the EU's rotating Presidency in the first half of 2006.
Popular support for the EU is the lowest in Austria among the 25 member states. In a December poll, only a quarter of the respondents described membership of the EU as a good thing for the country.