A new political party, opposed to health measures to fight Covid-19, made a breakthrough in regional elections in Austria. The results surprised the country.
Created last February, the Menschen Freiheit Grundrechte (MFG, “Humans, liberty, fundamental rights”) campaigned in Upper Austria (north), mainly on social networks. The young party will now sit in Parliament with more than 6% of the vote, according to the first results.
🇦🇹🗳️ 7.5% for anti-vaccines in regional elections in Upper Austria. Their MFG party (Individual Freedoms and Fundamental Rights) was founded 5 weeks ago. https://t.co/hMVORpSJfu
– mathieu gallard (@mathieugallard) September 26, 2021
Vaccination slowed down in Austria
MFG activists are skeptical about the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccine and refuse any vaccine obligation. A founder of the party has appealed to the Supreme Court on several occasions to invalidate laws deemed “liberticidal”.
Austria is gradually tightening the health pass introduced in the spring. From October, only vaccinated and cured people will be able to access the stadiums and performance halls in Vienna. Unvaccinated people will no longer have access to it even with a negative test.
According to a poll, half of unvaccinated voters voted for the far-right FPÖ party and a quarter of them for the MFG.
With just over 60% of citizens fully vaccinated, Austria is falling behind on the vaccination campaign. A break attributed by the conservative chancellor to the support given by the FPÖ to the coronasceptic and conspiratorial movements.
