Parliament Debates Isolation in Special Session
Protected by 600 police officers, Austria’s parliament opened a special session Tuesday to debate its international isolation following the entry of Joerg Haider’s far-right party into the government.
A no-confidence vote over the new Cabinet headed by Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel--whose People’s Party linked with Haider’s Freedom Party--was possible but considered likely to fail.
The Social Democrats, which have been in government for the last 30 years and are now in opposition, hold 65 seats. They and the small Greens party, which called for the session, hold too few spots to prevail in the 183-seat parliament.
The European Union, concerned about Haider’s opposition to immigration and his pro-Nazi comments, has frozen bilateral diplomatic relations with Austria, an EU member.
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