Austria

Right-wing conference in Vienna

A [scandalous conference](https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/ausland/europa/gipfeltreffen-mit-putins-fuenfter-kolonne/story/30542701) in Vienna, which brought together the Russian far-right, represented by Orthodox businessman Konstantin Malofeev, organizer of the event, and Eurasianism ideologue Alexander Dugin as well as representatives of far-right movements and parties in Europe.

It is believed that Russia tried to find allies among the European far-right who would support the lifting of sanctions against Moscow and act as a united “Black International” against liberalism.

The conference was timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the Congress of Vienna, during which the Vienna system of international relations was established and the Holy Alliance of European States was created, aimed at ensuring the firmness of European monarchies and preventing bourgeois revolutions.

The meeting in Vienna was hosted by Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev and his St. Basil the Great Foundation. Malofeev also served as host of the event. Among the guests from Russia was the chief ideologist of the Eurasian movement, Alexander Dugin, as well as the well-known artist-nationalist Ilya Glazunov. From France, the National Front deputy Marion Marechal-Le Pen (granddaughter of the party founder and niece of Marine Le Pen) and historian Aymeric Chauprade attended the event. From Spain, Prince Sixtus Henry of Parma, leader of one of the directions of the Carlist movement, and from Switzerland came Serge de Pahlen, director of the Geneva financial company and husband of Fiat heiress Margherita Agnelli de Pahlen. Austria was represented by Heinz Christian Strache, chairman of the right-wing populist Austrian Freedom Party, his deputy Jochan Gudenus, and Jochann Herzog, a Vienna politician for the Austrian Freedom Party. Wolen Siderow, chairman and founder of the far-right Ataka party, came from Bulgaria. Also present were extreme rightists from Croatia, high-ranking representatives from Georgia and Russia, and a Catholic priest.