Rival bid for the centre of attention

Date: 29/10/1998

There was a certain irony in the fact that EU leaders, almost a dozen of whom now head left-wing or centre-left governments, were meeting in Carinthia, the heartland of Austria's extreme right-wing Freedom Party.

Party leader Jörg Haider decided to make his presence felt during last weekend's gathering by holding a rival event.

During a press conference Haider, a former governor of Carinthia, issued his demands to the Union's leaders. These included granting Carinthia an exemption from the EU's competition rules along with ensuring that the province was properly compensated for the effects of Union enlargement.