Half of Austria’s overall population (50%) is in favour of “comprehensive remigration”, according to a new survey from the Archives of the Austrian Resistance (AAR) which also found that some 36% of people in the country do not want to live beside Muslims.
The online polling by Marketagent of 2,198 Austrians between April and May this year measured the country’s attitudes towards ethnic minorities and democracy. This was the first “Right-wing extremism barometer” commissioned by the AAR, a museum in Vienna founded by resistance fighters after the Second World War which documents the history of Nazism and Right-wing extremism. It found that around 10% of those surveyed had views they categorise as extremist. While AAR director Andreas Kranebitter said the findings do not give cause for national alarm, he conceded they were concerning.
The survey assessed respondents’ political leanings based on whether they agreed with statements such as “Our people are naturally superior to other peoples” or “I want a strong man at the head of this country who does not have to worry about a parliament”.