Private talks between Jörg Haider and members from Lega Nord and Vlaams Blok
The recent private talks in Carinthia between Jörg Haider and members from the Liga Nord and the Vlams Block have attracted a lot of attention. Of course the parties on the left are worried that those on the Right will do the unthinkable and co-operate. This is what left parties of various tendencies have been doing for decades thus creating a very powerful international network. So how inconvenient for the lefties that the Right might do the same thing! There is a potential frustration in Europe and a feeling that the people are not being listened to. The FPÖ seeks to represent these concerns and of course individual members have a right to discuss with politicians from other countries. How can this be banned? It is after all part of the dynamics of the European integration idea that parties form a dialogue with each across national borders.
Some denounce this party or the other as right extremist making a long-distance diagnosis without really knowing what is going on in the country concerned. The FPÖ knows how a few sentences can be taken out of context, reported and repeated and suddenly the party (with the help of the left network) is branded extremist and neo-fascist. The parties on the right cannot afford to revile each other in the same way but each must look carefully at the situation as it really is and this needs a dialogue so that one-sided biassed information is avoided. Talks of a joint electoral list for the 2004 European elections are premature but after that who knows? The Liga Nord is a party in government and as such has to be treated as a European partner. After all Italy did not even get the EU sanctions treatment so there can be little against talking with them. The FPÖ is interested in a dialogue with all democratic parties and has never imposed the pariah policy. A formal policy of co-operation however can only follow a decision of the party