Immigration security

‘Elites that distance themselves from voters will be voted out’ – Austria’s Hofer on Trump win

Austria, a nation with a population of just 8.7 million citizens, has taken in over 120,000 refugees from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia since 2015, bearing the largest burden of the migrant influx along with Germany and Sweden.

“Of course this is a human issue, but I cannot completely ignore the budgetary burden,” Hofer told Reuters, defending his position again. Hofer’s views have found many supporters, as many Austrians have been angered by the flood of new arrivals and the EU’s inability to deal with it.

Although Hofer was previously a strong advocate of an “Auxit,” or Austria’s exit from the EU, he later changed his tune after the UK’s decision to leave the bloc was met by negative reactions at home. A survey conducted by polling institute SORA in July after Britain’s ‘out’ vote found that some 70 percent of Austrians said they would vote to stay in the EU in a referendum.