Alliance for the Future of Austria

political party

Key facts

Leader: Helmut Nikel (in Carinthia)
Founder: Jörg Haider
Founded: 3 April 2005
Split from: Freedom Party of Austria
Headquarters: Volksgartenstraße 3/5, A-1010 Vienna
Youth wing: Generation of the Future of Austria
Membership: 8,000 (2011)
Ideology: National conservatism National liberalism Right-wing populism Euroscepticism
Political position: Right-wing to far-right
Colours: Orange
National council: 0 / 183
Federal council: 0 / 61

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Article

The Alliance for the Future of Austria (German: Bündnis Zukunft Österreich; BZÖ) is a right-wing populist, national conservative political party in Austria.

The BZÖ was founded on 3 April 2005 by Jörg Haider as a moderate splinter from the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and immediately took the FPÖ's place in coalition with the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). The party won seven seats at the 2006 election, ending its involvement in government. The September 2008 election saw the BZÖ breakthrough with 21 seats, while the FPÖ's vote also increased. Thirteen days after the election, Haider died in a car crash; in April 2009, Josef Bucher became leader. Under Bucher's leadership, the party moved towards economic liberalism, leading to the secession of the party's Carinthia branch to form the Freedom Party in Carinthia in December 2009.