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Jörg Haider
(January 26, 1950 - living) Austria

Jörg Haider

Politician

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Politician whose far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) party entered the Austrian government in coalition with the conservative People's party in 2000, is Governor of Carinthia. His parents were enthusiastic Nazis, who were punished after the Nazi defeat in World War II. Haider became wealthy when he inherited an estate bought from a fleeing Jew during World War II.

The Austrian Freedom Party was founded in 1955, and initially held liberal political views. In 1970 Haider became the leader of the FPÖ youth movement. Haider rose rapidly through the party ranks, becoming party leader in 1986. Under Haider's leadership, the party moved sharply to the right, reflecting Haider's nationalist, anti-immigrant, and anti-EU views.

Haider made a number of statements that seemed to imply support for the ideas of Nazism, and made a point of associating with and praising Waffen-SS veterans. In 2000, Haider's Freedom Party and the People's Party joined to form a coalition government. This caused widespread outrage in Europe, and the other 14 member states of the European Union initiated diplomatic sanctions against Austria.

End of February 2000, Haider stepped down from the leadership of the Freedom Party. This was widely seen as a cynical move to appease foreign criticism, as he appeared to continue to control the party from behind the scenes, with Herbert Haupt, the following party chairman, a mere puppet.

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Jörg Haider, the de facto leader of the far-right Freedom party in Austria, has been "outed" by German and Austrian newspapers who claim he is a homosexual.

According to Tageszeitung, many members of Vienna's gay scene are ready to confirm the reports. They claim he regularly has sex with young men below the age of consent - 18 for homosexuals.

As a result, says Tageszeitung: "These days he prefers to meet with boys from nearby Slovakia" (where the age of consent is 15). The paper also refers to Mr Haider's alleged cocaine habit.

According to Tageszeitung, Haider's current partner is a youthful member of the Freedom party who has worked as his private secretary.

Hosi, or Homosexual Initiative, the biggest gay pressure group in Vienna, said: "We've known about Haider's homosexuality for about 10 years. On the one hand we think it's positive that the rumours are no longer capable of ruining a political career, on the other hand an earlier outing of Haider would have been justified."

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