39 Facts About Herbert Kickl

Herbert Kickl was born on 19 October 1968 and is an Austrian politician who has been leader of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria since June 2021.

Herbert Kickl previously served as minister of the interior from 2017 to 2019 and general-secretary of the FPO from 2005 to 2018.

Herbert Kickl rose to prominence as a campaign director for the FPO and speechwriter for Jorg Haider during the 2000s.

Herbert Kickl was dismissed from office in May 2019 in the wake of the Ibiza affair, though he was not personally implicated.

Herbert Kickl returned to the National Council, where he has been leader of the FPO faction since 2019.

Herbert Kickl grew up in a working-class family and attended primary school in Radenthein.

Herbert Kickl did his military service with the mountain troops as a one-year volunteer from 1987 to 1988.

Herbert Kickl then began studying journalism and political science at the University of Vienna, and from 1989, philosophy and history.

Between 1995 and 2001, Herbert Kickl worked for the FPO's party academy in the area of campaign strategy and content, rising to deputy executive director in 2001.

Herbert Kickl was elected to the National Council in 2006 and served as deputy chair of the FPO parliamentary faction.

Herbert Kickl was accused of failing to take serious responsibility as a minister, instead acting as if he were still in the opposition, as well as misusing his office and fostering a development away from liberal democracy and the rule of law.

In March 2018, Herbert Kickl suspended Peter Gridling, head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism, and ordered raids against its offices and the homes of a number of staff, seizing nineteen gigabytes of data.

Herbert Kickl claimed that his actions were necessitated by Gridling and the agency's failure to delete sensitive data.

Herbert Kickl's actions were criticised by opposition politicians, who accused him of seeking to undermine the independence of the BVT and to protect right-wing extremist groups close to the FPO.

Herbert Kickl was criticised in September 2018 after an email addressed to the police by his ministerial spokesman surfaced recommending that they limit contact with critical media outlets to a bare minimum.

Herbert Kickl stated he did not approve of the email's content, and the FPO accused the media of conducting a coordinated witch hunt against him.

Herbert Kickl has been accused of wielding the police for political purposes, lodging legal complaints against individuals and journalists who write negatively about him.

In January 2019, Herbert Kickl voiced his demand for faster deportation of refugees who had committed crimes, stating that deportation should be possible immediately after conviction, before full legal process has been completed.

Herbert Kickl received widespread criticism for his statements which were perceived as an attack against the rule of law, including from OVP members of the government, President Van der Bellen, various judges' and lawyers' associations, and president of the Jewish Community of Vienna Oskar Deutsch.

In early 2019, Herbert Kickl proposed to amend the constitution to allow preventive detention of asylum seekers who could be considered a threat to public safety.

Herbert Kickl stated it would therefore be inappropriate for the interior ministry, which would conduct the investigation into the scandal, to be overseen by Kickl.

Herbert Kickl received over 75,000 personal votes, the second-highest number of any candidate behind only Sebastian Kurz, and more than twice as many as FPO top candidate and leader Norbert Hofer.

Herbert Kickl became chairman of the FPO faction after the election.

Herbert Kickl took a strict position against the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading misinformation, opposing vaccination, and attending anti-lockdown protests.

Herbert Kickl was criticised by Hofer over his refusal to wear a mask in the National Council.

In May 2021, Herbert Kickl voiced his desire to run as lead candidate for the FPO in the next federal election.

Herbert Kickl attracted attention in 2016 as the keynote speaker of the "Defenders of Europe" conference in Linz, which was organised and attended by various far-right, antisemitic, and racist groups and figures, including far-right media outlets such as Compact and both Austrian and German neo-Nazi groups.

Herbert Kickl has since maintained ties with many of the same groups.

Herbert Kickl has described the other political parties as "system parties", a term associated with the Nazis.

Herbert Kickl believes that Islam has no place in Europe, and that integration of Muslim immigrants cannot "solve the problem of Islamic countercultures".

Herbert Kickl has called for "a total ban on the hijab in public space".

Herbert Kickl is an advocate for remigration, which he and the FPO define as the deportation of immigrants and their descendants, including citizens, who refuse to integrate.

Herbert Kickl has praised the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, President of the United States Donald Trump, and the leader of the Alternative for Germany, Alice Weidel.

Herbert Kickl opposed plans for Austria to accept Ukrainian refugees.

Herbert Kickl has attended and spoken at protests against the Austrian COVID-19 response, which he characterises as "a game of power" by "those at the top [who] want to dominate us".

Herbert Kickl opposes the use of COVID-19 vaccine, describing the mass vaccination campaign in Israel as "health apartheid".

Herbert Kickl refused to condemn actions which liken pandemic measures to the Holocaust, such as anti-vaccine protesters wearing Jewish badges, and denied that he was trivialising the crimes of the Nazi regime.

Herbert Kickl said he was therefore not obliged to do so, as he is when shopping.

Herbert Kickl said he was "not one of those hypocrites who puts on the mask and then throws every security measure overboard".