In Austria, a Feisty Haider Quits Party Job

Joerg Haider officially resigned Monday as head of his far-right party in the same way he has led it for the past 14 years--with a speech lashing out at his critics.

Delegates to the annual congress of Austria’s Freedom Party overwhelmingly elected Vice Chancellor Susanne Riess-Passer, Haider’s personal choice, to succeed him.

Haider announced in February that he would step down, but the official change of office was left for the party’s congress in Klagenfurt, capital of Carinthia province, where Haider is governor.

In a 90-minute speech to the congress, Haider, 50, called for unity under Riess-Passer’s direction.

“The FPO should not change!” he told the delegates, using the Austrian acronym for his party. “It must be our goal to work so hard in the future that in the next election, there will be no shift to the left.”

In her first speech as party chief, Riess-Passer, 39, told Haider, “You can always count on me.”

The meeting came after several months of international and domestic protests against the Freedom Party’s inclusion in the Austrian government. The party received 27% of the vote in national elections.

Haider gained notoriety for praising the “orderly” full employment policies of Adolf Hitler and calling Waffen SS veterans “men of honor.” He has repeatedly apologized for such remarks.

But his apologies have done little to stifle international criticism of Austria.

After the Freedom Party joined the ruling coalition with the conservative People’s Party of Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel in early February, some European Union countries froze diplomatic relations with Austria.

“The way the EU has been dealing with Austria is not compatible with the European humanism that we would hope for,” Haider said.