Herbert Kickl
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Herbert Kickl (born 19 October 1968) is an Austrian politician who has been leader of the
far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria (, FPÖ) is a political party in Austria, variously described as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative, and Eurosceptic. It has been led by Herbert Kickl since 2021. It is the largest of five part ...
(FPÖ) since June 2021. He previously served as
minister of the interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
from 2017 to 2019 and general-secretary of the FPÖ from 2005 to 2018. Kickl calls himself ''Volkskanzler'' (The People's Chancellor) and advocates a Fortress Austria and
remigration Remigration is a far-right European concept of ethnic cleansing via the mass deportation or promoted voluntary return of non-white immigrants and their descendants, usually including those born in Europe, to their place of racial ancestry, often ...
. Kickl rose to prominence as a campaign director for the FPÖ and speechwriter for
Jörg Haider Jörg Haider (; 26 January 1950 – 11 October 2008) was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Au ...
during the 2000s. After the party split in 2005, he became general-secretary and one of its key leaders. In 2017, he was appointed federal
Minister for the Interior Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
in the
first Kurz government The First Kurz government ( or ''Kurz I'' for short) was the 30th Government of Austria in office from 18 December 2017 until 3 June 2019. It succeeded the Kern government formed after the 2017 legislative election. Sebastian Kurz, chairman o ...
. In February 2018, he ordered a controversial raid on the
Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (''Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz und Terrorismusbekämpfung'', "BVT") was an Austrian police organization that acted as a domestic intelligence agency. It was tas ...
, seizing their data on right-wing extremist groups including the new right Identitarian Movement of Austria close to the FPÖ. He was dismissed from office in May 2019 in the wake of the
Ibiza affair The Ibiza affair (), also known as Ibiza-gate, was a political scandal in Austria involving Heinz-Christian Strache, the former vice chancellor of Austria and leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ), as well as Johann Gudenus, formerly a deputy lea ...
, though he was not personally implicated. He returned to the National Council, where he has been leader of the FPÖ faction since 2019.


Early life and education

Kickl grew up in a working-class family and attended primary school in
Radenthein Radenthein () is a town in Spittal an der Drau District, in the Austrian state of Carinthia. Geography The town is situated in the Gegend valley (''Gegendtal'') of the Nock Mountains range (part of the Gurktal Alps), stretching to the eastern sh ...
. He graduated from grammar school in
Spittal an der Drau Spittal an der Drau is a town in the western part of the Austrian federal state of Carinthia (state), Carinthia. It is the administrative centre of Spittal an der Drau District, Austria's second largest district (''Districts of Austria, Bezirk'') b ...
alongside future Greens leader
Eva Glawischnig Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek ( Glawischnig; born 28 February 1969) is an Austrian politician of the Austrian Green Party, and its federal spokeswoman from 2008 until 2017. She was the plaintiff in the landmark case ''Eva Glawishnig-Piesczek v. Faceb ...
. He did his military service with the mountain troops as a
one-year volunteer A one-year volunteer, short EF (German language, de: ''Einjährig-Freiwilliger''), was, in a number of national armed forces, a Conscription, conscript who agreed to pay his own costs for the procurement of equipment, food and clothing, in return ...
from 1987 to 1988. He then began studying
journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...
and
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
at the
University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
, and from 1989, philosophy and history. He did not complete either degree.


Political career

Between 1995 and 2001, Kickl worked for the FPÖ's party academy in the area of campaign strategy and content, rising to deputy executive director in 2001. After the
Knittelfeld Putsch Knittelfeld Putsch refers to a conference of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) which took place on 7 September 2002 in the small Austrian town of Knittelfeld, Styria, called due to political differences within the party leadership. The events res ...
in 2002, he became executive director, a position he held until 2006. In this capacity, he was a speechwriter for long-time FPÖ leader
Jörg Haider Jörg Haider (; 26 January 1950 – 11 October 2008) was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Au ...
. Among other things, he wrote inflammatory statements about French president
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...
and
Jewish Community of Vienna The Jewish Community of Vienna ( or IKG) is the body that represents Vienna's Orthodox Jewish community. Today, the IKG has around 10,000 members. Throughout history, it has represented almost all of Austria's Jews, whose numbers are sufficient ...
president
Ariel Muzicant Ariel Muzicant (; born 1952 in Haifa, Israel) is an Austrian-Israeli businessman, who served as the president of the Viennese Jewish community (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien). He is the president of the Bnai Brith lodge Zwi-Perez-Chajes and ...
, and was responsible for controversial campaign slogans such as the
2010 Viennese state election The 2010 Viennese state election was held on 10 October 2010 to elect the members of the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna. The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) lost its absolute majority for the first time since 1996. The Freedom Party ...
slogan "Viennese blood - too much foreign is not good for anyone." After Haider left the party in 2005 and launched the
Alliance for the Future of Austria The Alliance for the Future of Austria (; BZÖ) is a right-wing populist, national conservative political party in Austria. The BZÖ was founded on 3 April 2005 by Jörg Haider as a moderate splinter from the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) ...
, Kickl remained with FPÖ and became one of his harshest critics. In the aftermath, Kickl was elected general-secretary of the FPÖ and director of the party newspaper ''Neue Freie Zeitung'', positions which he held until 2018 and 2017 respectively. As general-secretary he was responsible for public relations and internal communication, and was considered the chief strategist of the FPÖ and the "right-hand man" of leader
Heinz-Christian Strache Heinz-Christian Strache (; born 12 June 1969) is an Austrian politician and dental technician who served as Vice-Chancellor of Austria from 2017 to 2019 before resigning owing to his involvement in the Ibiza affair. He was also Minister of ...
. He was elected to the National Council in
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
and served as deputy chair of the FPÖ parliamentary faction. From 2016 to 2021, he was president of the FPÖ Education Institute.


Minister for the Interior (2017-2019)

After the
2017 Austrian legislative election Legislative elections were held in Austria on 15 October 2017 to elect the 26th National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament. The snap election was called when the coalition government between the Social Democratic Party o ...
, the FPÖ joined the federal government as a junior partner to the
Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...
(ÖVP). Kickl was sworn in as Federal Minister for the Interior on 17 December. In this capacity, he was embroiled in a number of scandals. He was accused of failing to take serious responsibility as a minister, instead acting as if he were still in the opposition, as well as misusing his office and fostering a development away from
liberal democracy Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...
and the
rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...
. In a press conference on 11 January 2018, Kickl said he wanted "services centres and infrastructure that would allow the authorities to concentrate asylum seekers in one place", which was widely interpreted as an allusion to
concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...
s, though he denied that the phrasing was intentional or that he sought to be provocative. In March 2018, Kickl suspended Peter Gridling, head of the
Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (''Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz und Terrorismusbekämpfung'', "BVT") was an Austrian police organization that acted as a domestic intelligence agency. It was tas ...
(BVT), and ordered raids against its offices and the homes of a number of staff, seizing nineteen
gigabyte The gigabyte () is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The SI prefix, prefix ''giga-, giga'' means 109 in the International System of Units (SI). Therefore, one gigabyte is one billion bytes. The unit symbol for the gigabyte i ...
s of data. Kickl claimed that his actions were necessitated by Gridling and the agency's failure to delete sensitive data. His actions were criticised by opposition politicians, who accused him of seeking to undermine the independence of the BVT and to protect right-wing extremist groups close to the FPÖ.
President of Austria The president of Austria () is the head of state of the Austria, Republic of Austria. The office of the president was established in 1920 by the Constituent National Assembly (Austria), Constituent National Assembly of the First Austrian Repu ...
Alexander Van der Bellen Alexander "Sascha" Van der Bellen (; born 18 January 1944), also referred to by the abbreviation VdB, is an Austrian politician serving as the president of Austria since 2017. He previously served as a professor of economics at the University ...
described the events as "extremely unusual and disconcerting". Government spokesman for security Werner Amon stated that the interior ministry had failed to work through the proper channels, and that unprompted searches of staff members' homes was not normal procedure. Kickl was criticised in September 2018 after an email addressed to the police by his ministerial spokesman surfaced recommending that they limit contact with critical media outlets to a bare minimum. This prompted criticism from Chancellor
Sebastian Kurz Sebastian Kurz (; born 27 August 1986) is an Austrian former politician who served twice as Chancellor of Austria, first from 2017 to 2019 and then again from 2020 to 2021. Kurz was born and raised in Meidling, Vienna. He entered politics by ...
, who condemned "any restriction of
freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...
". Kickl stated he did not approve of the email's content, and the FPÖ accused the media of conducting a coordinated
witch hunt A witch hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. Practicing evil spells or Incantation, incantations was proscribed and punishable in early human civilizations in the ...
against him. Kickl has also been accused of wielding the police for political purposes, lodging legal complaints against individuals and journalists who write negatively about him. In January 2019, Kickl voiced his demand for faster deportation of refugees who had committed crimes, stating that deportation should be possible immediately after conviction, before full legal process has been completed. He later corrected his position, stating that the full legal process should be carried out before deportation, but further said: "I believe that it is up to the law to follow politics, and not for politics to follow the law." He questioned the necessity of human rights agreements, including the
European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a Supranational law, supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Draf ...
, claiming that they "prevent us from doing what is necessary". He received widespread criticism for his statements which were perceived as an attack against the
rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...
, including from ÖVP members of the government, President Van der Bellen, various judges' and lawyers' associations, and president of the
Jewish Community of Vienna The Jewish Community of Vienna ( or IKG) is the body that represents Vienna's Orthodox Jewish community. Today, the IKG has around 10,000 members. Throughout history, it has represented almost all of Austria's Jews, whose numbers are sufficient ...
Oskar Deutsch. In early 2019, Kickl proposed to amend the constitution to allow
preventive detention Preventive detention is an imprisonment that is putatively justified for non- punitive purposes, most often to prevent further criminal acts. Preventive detention sometimes involves the detention of a convicted criminal who has served their sente ...
of asylum seekers who could be considered a threat to public safety. NEOS leader
Beate Meinl-Reisinger Beate Meinl-Reisinger (; Reisinger; born 25 April 1978) is an Austrian politician serving as Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Austria), Minister for European and International Affairs since March 2025. She has been party leader of the NEOS – The Ne ...
refused to consider discussions for such an amendment, criticising detention based purely on potential danger as a feature of authoritarian regimes. Kickl also proposed a
curfew A curfew is an order that imposes certain regulations during specified hours. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to remain indoors during the evening and nighttime hours. Such an order is most often issued by public authorit ...
for asylum seekers between 10 PM and 6 AM on a voluntary basis and commented: "If they don't want to do that, we will find a place for them where there is little incentive to hang around." He stated that the aim of a renewed tightening of asylum law was to make it virtually impossible to apply for asylum in Austria. He also announced that reception centres for refugees would be renamed to "departure centres" from March, a move which social psychologist Klaus Ottomeyer described as "pure sadism". As interior minister, Kickl pushed to expand and strengthen the
Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...
. The programme of the ÖVP–FPÖ government included plans to hire 4,100 new police officers. In April 2018, the ministry announced that the special Vienna standby police unit would be permitted to use
taser Taser (stylized in all caps) is a line of handheld conducted energy devices (CED) sold by Axon Enterprise (formerly Taser International). The device fires two small barbed darts intended to puncture the skin and remain attached to the targe ...
s, similar to other special units. In August, Kickl announced plans to establish standby units in all nine
states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...
. Further, a new border protection unit named Puma was established. The government also launched a pilot program to introduce
mounted police Mounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. Their day-to-day function is typically picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and increasingly in th ...
, which was unsuccessful. Expenses for the project amounted to around €2.5 million, according to the ''
Kurier ''Kurier'' is a German-language daily newspaper based in Vienna, Austria. In 2023, it had an edition of approximately 103,000 copies. History and profile ''Kurier'' was founded as ''Wiener Kurier'' by the United States Forces in Austria (USFA) ...
''.


Dismissal

On 17 May 2019, a secretly-recorded video featuring FPÖ politicians
Heinz-Christian Strache Heinz-Christian Strache (; born 12 June 1969) is an Austrian politician and dental technician who served as Vice-Chancellor of Austria from 2017 to 2019 before resigning owing to his involvement in the Ibiza affair. He was also Minister of ...
and
Johann Gudenus Johann Gudenus or Johann Baptist Björn Graf von Gudenus (born 20 July 1976) is a former Austrian politician who served as a deputy leader of the Freedom Party. Early life Born into the noble Gudenus family, he is the second born son of FP ...
was released to the press. In the video, both men appear receptive to proposals by a woman calling herself Alyona Makarova, posing as a niece of Russian businessman Igor Makarov, who suggests providing their party with positive news coverage in return for government contracts. Strache and Gudenus also hint at corrupt practices involving other wealthy donors to the FPÖ in Europe and elsewhere. After the story broke, then-
Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...
Strache announced his resignation from all political offices. According to Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, as general-secretary of the FPÖ, Kickl was primarily responsible for the party's financial management. He stated it would therefore be inappropriate for the interior ministry, which would conduct the investigation into the scandal, to be overseen by Kickl. For this reason, and because in Kurz's view he had not taken the severity of the situation seriously, he requested that President
Alexander Van der Bellen Alexander "Sascha" Van der Bellen (; born 18 January 1944), also referred to by the abbreviation VdB, is an Austrian politician serving as the president of Austria since 2017. He previously served as a professor of economics at the University ...
dismiss Kickl as interior minister. He was dismissed on 22 May. Kickl thus became the first federal minister in the Second Republic to be removed from office against his will. In response, the remaining FPÖ ministers resigned and the party withdrew from the coalition, prompting Kurz to call a snap election.


FPÖ parliamentary leader

Kickl resumed his seat in the National Council on 24 May and became managing officer of the FPÖ parliamentary faction. He was re-elected in the September election. Kickl received over 75,000 personal votes, the second-highest number of any candidate behind only Sebastian Kurz, and more than twice as many as FPÖ top candidate and leader
Norbert Hofer Norbert Gerwald Hofer (; born 2 March 1971) is an Austrian politician who was the leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) from June 2019 to June 2021. He previously served as minister of transport, innovation, and technology from 2017 to ...
. He became chairman of the FPÖ faction after the election. Kickl and Hofer were considered unofficial "dual leaders" and often came into conflict. While Hofer sought to take a moderate line, Kickl positioned himself as "the true party leader" and pushed for hardline stances on a number of issues. He took a strict position against the government's response to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, spreading
misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation and disinformation are not interchangeable terms: misinformation can exist with or without specific malicious intent, whereas disinformation is distinct in that the information ...
, opposing
vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...
, and attending
anti-lockdown protests Protests, demonstrations and strikes occurred around the world against national responses to the COVID-19 pandemic by governmental bodies. Some were driven by the financial hardship resulting from government measures to contain the virus, in ...
. He was criticised by Hofer over his refusal to wear a mask in the National Council.


FPÖ chairman (2021–present)

In May 2021, Kickl voiced his desire to run as lead candidate for the FPÖ in the next federal election. On 1 June, Hofer announced his resignation as party chairman. Kickl was the sole candidate to succeed him. He was unanimously designated as chairman by the executive committee on 7 June and confirmed on 19 June with 88% support. In the
2024 Austrian legislative election General election, Legislative elections were held in Austria on 29 September 2024 to elect the 28th National Council (Austria), National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament. The election saw the far-right Freedom Party o ...
held on 29 September, the FPÖ gained a plurality of seats in the National Council, the Party's support increased from 16% to 28.85% of the vote, placing first and achieving its best result in the party's history. However, no party in parliament agreed to form a coalition with it or agree to have Kickl become Chancellor, which led to President
Alexander Van der Bellen Alexander "Sascha" Van der Bellen (; born 18 January 1944), also referred to by the abbreviation VdB, is an Austrian politician serving as the president of Austria since 2017. He previously served as a professor of economics at the University ...
asking outgoing chancellor
Karl Nehammer Karl Nehammer (; born 18 October 1972) is an Austrian politician who served as the 28th chancellor of Austria from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), he previously was Minister of the Interior (Austria), Minister of th ...
of the ÖVP to form a new government on 22 October. In response, Kickl criticised Van der Bellen for breaking with the "tried and tested normal processes" of asking the leading party in the election to form a government and pledged that "Today is not the end of the story". Since then, the party has rapidly surged upwards, reaching 35-37% in different polls from December 2024. After Nehammer failed to form a government and resigned as chancellor in January 2025, Kickl received a mandate from Van der Bellen to form the next government on 6 January. However, Kickl was also unable to form a government and returned his mandate on 12 February.


Political positions

Kickl has been called a
far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
politician. During government formation with the ÖVP in 2017, Kickl stated that his goal in politics was to "make society more fair". Society is fair, he said, when one can support one's family through gainful employment and live a self-determined life without "social dependence". Kickl attracted attention in 2016 as the keynote speaker of the "Defenders of Europe" conference in
Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...
, which was organised and attended by various
far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
,
antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
, and racist groups and figures, including far-right media outlets such as ''
Compact Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to: * Interstate compact, a type of agreement used by U.S. states * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a t ...
'' and both Austrian and German
neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
groups. The ''
Wiener Zeitung ''Wiener Zeitung'' () is an Austrian newspaper. First published as the ''Wiennerisches Diarium'' in 1703, it is one of the oldest newspapers in the world. Until April 2023, it was the official gazette of the government of the Republic of Austria ...
'' described it as an attempt to blur the boundaries between the ''
Neue Rechte () is the designation for a right-wing political movement in Germany. It was founded as an opposition to the New Left generation of the 1960s. Its intellectually oriented proponents distance themselves from Old Right Nazi traditions and emphas ...
'',
right-wing populism Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establis ...
, and classical
right-wing extremism Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
. Kickl has since maintained ties with many of the same groups. In 2018, he opposed moves by the FPÖ to distance itself from the ethno-nationalist
Identitarian movement The Identitarian movement or Identitarianism is a Pan-European nationalism, pan-European nationalist, Ethnic nationalism, ethno-nationalist, Far-right politics, far-right ideological movement centred on the preservation of White people, white ...
; subsequently, during the 2019 election, Identitarian leader
Martin Sellner Martin Michael Sellner (born 8 January 1989) is an Austrian Right-wing politics, right-wing to far-right political activist, and leader of the Identitäre Bewegung Österreichs, Identitarian Movement of Austria, which he co-founded in 2012. He is ...
bought advertisements encouraging preferential votes for Kickl. In June 2021, he described the Identitarian Movement as "an interesting project, worthy of support", and in 2023 reiterated his opposition to a "red line" against them. During the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, he regularly attended and spoke at rallies alongside far-right activists, including neo-Nazi Gottfried Küssel. During the 2024 federal campaign, Kickl styled himself as "Volkskanzler" (People's Chancellor), a term also used around 1933 by the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
in reference to
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
. Kickl has denied the connection. He has also described the other political parties as "system parties", a term also associated with the Nazis.


Immigration and multiculturalism

Like most in his party, Kickl strongly opposes immigration and what he describes as "the abuse of the asylum system". He believes that
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
has no place in Europe, and that
integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...
of Muslim immigrants cannot "solve the problem of Islamic countercultures". Rather, immigration must be severely limited. He has called for "a total ban on the
hijab Hijab (, ) refers to head coverings worn by Women in Islam, Muslim women. Similar to the mitpaḥat/tichel or Snood (headgear), snood worn by religious married Jewish women, certain Christian head covering, headcoverings worn by some Christian w ...
in public space". As interior minister, he advocated for rapid deportation of refugees who commit crimes. He also suggested that Austria should withdraw from human rights agreements if they "prevent us from doing what is necessary", expressing his belief that "it is up to the law to follow politics, and not for politics to follow the law." He stated that the aim of his refugee policy was to make it virtually impossible to apply for asylum in Austria. Kickl is an advocate for
remigration Remigration is a far-right European concept of ethnic cleansing via the mass deportation or promoted voluntary return of non-white immigrants and their descendants, usually including those born in Europe, to their place of racial ancestry, often ...
, which he and the FPÖ define as the deportation of immigrants and their descendants, including citizens, who refuse to integrate. In June 2024 he called for the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
to establish a "remigration commissioner". Kickl's 2024 federal election campaign focused heavily on opposing immigration and advocating remigration, in order to restore the "homogeneous" nature of the Austrian people; Kickl had been calling for a "Fortress Austria" since 2023.


Foreign policy

Kickl has praised the Prime Minister of Hungary
Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian lawyer and politician who has been the 56th prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has also led the Fidesz political party since 200 ...
, President of the United States
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
, and the leader of the
Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...
,
Alice Weidel Alice Elisabeth Weidel (; born 6 February 1979) is a German far-right politician who has been serving as of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party alongside Tino Chrupalla since June 2022. Since October 2017, she has held ...
.


Views on Russia and Russian invasion of Ukraine

He supports his party's close relations with
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
and
United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...
. As interior minister in 2018, Kickl sought cooperation with the Russian government on disaster responses and the fight against organised crime and terrorism. In a radio interview, Kickl rejected criticism of the Russian president's authoritarian policies. After the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
, he claimed that both Russia and
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
bore responsibility for the invasion, and that sanctions imposed against Russia constituted a violation of Austrian neutrality. He also opposed plans for Austria to accept Ukrainian refugees. In March 2023, Kickl and the FPÖ walked out of parliament during an address by Ukrainian president
Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...
. Throughout the year, he continued to call for the lifting of sanctions against Russia. In June 2025, Herbert Kickl publicly expressed his outrage over Zelensky's alleged visit to Austria. This was a "foreign policy blunder" that, in his opinion, "makes Austria a potential target in the event of an escalation."


COVID-19

Kickl has attended and spoken at protests against the Austrian COVID-19 response, which he characterises as "a game of power" by "those at the top howant to dominate us". He opposes the use of
COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Knowledge about the structure and fun ...
, describing the mass vaccination campaign in
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
as "health apartheid". He refused to condemn actions which liken pandemic measures to the
Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
, such as anti-vaccine protesters wearing
Jewish badges The yellow badge, also known as the yellow patch, the Jewish badge, or the yellow star (, ), was an accessory that Jews were required to wear in certain non-Jewish societies throughout history. A Jew's ethno-religious identity, which would be d ...
, and denied that he was trivialising the crimes of the Nazi regime. In April 2021, Kickl voiced his refusal to wear a mask in the National Council after a mandate was introduced. However, as the policy was part of the house rules rather than the parliamentary rules of procedure, there was no punishment for failing to observe it. Kickl said he was therefore not obliged to do so, as he is when shopping. He said he was "not one of those hypocrites who puts on the mask and then throws every security measure overboard".


Personal life

Kickl is married to a lawyer and has a son.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kickl, Herbert 1968 births COVID-19 misinformation Freedom Party of Austria politicians Ministers of the interior of Austria Living people Members of the 23rd National Council (Austria) Members of the 24th National Council (Austria) Members of the 25th National Council (Austria) Members of the 26th National Council (Austria) Members of the 27th National Council (Austria) Members of the 28th National Council (Austria) People from Villach