Bizarre Haider headlines

In a very bizarre twist, a leading Austrian politician, Stefan Petzner, has revealed a “special relationship” with the late Jorg Haider. Haider, the famous anti-immigrant far-right politician, died in a motorcycle crash earlier this month.

The new head of the Freedom Party (Haider’s party) admitted that “Haider was the man of my life.”

Heider was Roman Catholic and married with two children. The party fired Stefan Petzner yesterday.

Wow.

The Alliance for Austria’s future is Austria’s loudest anti-immigrant, anti-Turkey voice. Haider once made the puzzling observation that “Turks do not integrate into society.”

Austria is one of the greatest obstacles to Turkey’s EU bid. Will the combination of Haider’s death and the new leader’s surprising revelations derail popular support for the far-right movement in Austria? If so, this weird news could be good news for Turkey.