The WKR-Ball as a Highlight of the European Right
Just like every year, on the 28th of January the elite of Europe’s Extreme Right will meet in Vienna. They’ll celebrate themselves by arranging the infamous WKR-Ball (short for Wiener Korporations-Ring - Viennese Corporation Circle), which takes place in the Viennese Hofburg, one of the most representative buildings of the Austrian Republic.
The Brown Hosts
The WKR is a union of 19 German-nationalist fraternities (Burschenschaften*). It is the breeding ground of several militant neo-Nazi cadres and many an Austrian Freedom Party politician. Their ideology is based on racism, antisemitism, anti-feminism, sexism, homophobia, anti-communism, elite thinking and their alleged German-nationalist heritage. Membership is granted to men only. The structure of these ‘undiluted’ male, lifelong and close networks is both hierarchic and authoritarian and hence reflecting our society’s hegemonic patriarchate. Within Austria’s right scene, the German-nationalist fraternities have a special task: they function as link between militant neo-Nazis and the (post-)fascist Austrian Freedom Party. The Austrian Freedom Party for instance has 27 seats in the Viennese city parliament – half of their mandataries originate from said fraternities. The Freedom Party is currently third-strongest force in the National Parliament and still in the ascendant. They are actively involved in the formation of a United European Right and according to latest surveys have a chance of hitting the 25% mark in upcoming elections.
The European Right
In the face of the current capitalist crisis and the dramatic social cuts executed by the bourgeois parties, (neo-)fascist and misanthropic ideologies are on the rise, both in the streets and national parliaments: In Hungary the national-conservative government has just curbed the freedom of the press and is presently purging their universities from unwanted leftists. Meanwhile, the neo-fascist ‘Hungarian guards’ (the paramilitary wing of the ‘Jobbik’ party) commit acts of terror against minorities such as the Roma and Sinti. The Roma in France suffered a similar fate when the conservative government decided to deport them under barbarous conditions a couple of months ago.
Racist acts become socially acceptable, hence preparing the ground for neo-fascists such as the Front National in France. However, both Hungary and France are merely examples of a Europe-wide trend. In any case, the WKR-Ball offers a handy organizing platform for the proponents of these misanthropic ideologies. In past years, the following countries and movements were represented at the ball: Germany (Pro Köln, Pro NRW, DVU)),Denmark(Danish People’s Party), Switzerland (Swiss People’s Party), Russia (Alexander Dugin), Spain (Enrique Ravello), France (Front National), Belgium (Vlaams Belang)**.
The State’s Reaction – a European Police State?
Up to now, the Austrian State has never had any scruples about letting one of Vienna’s most history-charged buildings to this sickening spectacle – the Viennese Hofburg, from whose very balcony Hitler announced Austria’s annexation to the German Reich back in 1938. Beyond that, anti-fascist protests were criminalized in the past. In 2010 the counter-demonstration was prohibited by the police: The courageous protestors were bottled up by special forces, hundreds of them got reported and had to pay fines; others even got arrested or beaten up by over-eager cops. The celebrations of the European Right, however, remained completely undisturbed as these infringements took place more than one kilometer away from the actual scene, the Hofburg.
These strategies of escalation have apparently become a paradigm for police experts within the European Union: According to news reports***, a project called ‘GODIAC’ ("Good practice for dialogue and communication as strategic principles for policing political manifestations in Europe") has been initiated. This project provides for the realization of ten "field studies", analyzing protests such as the one against the NATO-summit in Portugal in 2010 or the Anti-Castor protests in Germany. The next protest to be examined is the anti-fascist demonstration against the WKR-Ball in Vienna. The outcomes of these field studies remain to be seen, however, further restrictions of personal freedom and human rights seem likely: restrictions of one’s freedom of travel, international exchange of activists’ data and EU-wide police operations may only be some of the consequences. In the long run, this field study has to be seen as an attempt to establish a multi-national police state by fathoming the diverse possibilities and limitations of civil resistance.
Don't let the system get you down!
In spite of everything, we call on all anti-fascists to take part in the protests against the WKR-Ball – no matter where they are from or in which way they wish to articulate their resistance. The Oath of Buchenwald must never be forgotten: ‘Our watchword is the destruction of Nazism from its roots. Our goal is to build a new world of peace and freedom.’
* In this text, the term ‘fraternity’ is used for the German ‘Burschenschaft’. However, a ‘Burschenschaft’ resembles a conventional fraternity only in terms of excessive alcohol consumption. In Austria, fraternities are organisations with very peculiar political traditions and strong political influence within the Austrian establishment.
** Cf. „En Garde! Challenge the WKR-Ball! Against the Extreme Right Dancing Event in the Former Imperial Palace, the Hofburg“, Pronunciamento for the noWKR-Demonstration 2010, http://nowkr.wordpress.com/aufrufe/
*** Cf. Monroy, Matthias: „EU-Projekt gegen linken Massenprotest“ In: Telepolis, 12.01.2011, http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/34/34000/1.html
KSV-LiLi (is part of the Antinationalist Alliance [Vienna])