Austrian Rightist Stirs More Outrage at End of Italy Visit

Joerg Haider, an Austria far-right politician and self-proclaimed “angel of peace,” made parting jabs against immigrants and Italy’s “weak” leaders as he headed home Sunday after a tumultuous visit to the Vatican.

Haider’s combative interview added to the outrage that his trip sparked. His audience with Pope John Paul II on Saturday prompted protests outside St. Peter’s Square.

“I repeat what I believe: Everyone has a right to a dignified existence but in their own country,” Haider was quoted as saying in his trip-closing interview published Sunday in Rome’s La Repubblica daily, adding, “Ever more people are thinking like I do.”

Italy’s center-left government made clear how unwelcome any return visit would be.

“Haider’s presence . . . is not desirable,” Luciano Violante, president of the Chamber of Deputies, said Sunday, faulting Haider’s “rude, discourteous manner” in verbal clashes with Italy’s leaders over immigration.

Haider led an Austrian delegation that presented the Vatican on Saturday with a Christmas tree for St. Peter’s Square. He dismissed advance criticism of the trip, saying members of his delegation were coming as “angels of peace.”

The pope has drawn criticism for granting an audience to Haider, the governor of Austria’s Carinthia province who has expressed qualified praise for Nazi Germany.