Topic: Joerg Haider

Haider in 2007

Jörg Haider (26 January 1950 – 11 October 2008) was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two separate occasions, the long-time leader of the national-conservative Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (Bündnis Zukunft Österreich, BZÖ), a breakaway party from the FPÖ.

Haider was controversial within Austria and abroad for comments that were widely condemned as praising Nazi policies or as xenophobic or anti-Semitic. Several countries imposed mild diplomatic sanctions against his party's government. Haider died in a car accident shortly after leading the BZÖ in the Austrian Parliamentary elections. He was driving over the speed limit while over the legal alcohol limit.