Herbert Kickl (born 19 October 1968) is an Austrian politician who has been leader of the far-right[1] Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) since June 2021.

In February 2018, he ordered a controversial raid on the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism, seizing their data on right-wing extremist groups including the new right Identitarian Movement of Austria close to the FPÖ.

[2] Between 1995 and 2001, Kickl worked for the FPÖ's party academy in the area of campaign strategy and content, rising to deputy executive director in 2001.

"[8] After Haider left the party in 2005 and launched the Alliance for the Future of Austria, Kickl remained with FPÖ and became one of his harshest critics.

[8] In the aftermath, Kickl was elected general-secretary of the FPÖ and director of the party newspaper Neue Freie Zeitung, positions which he held until 2018 and 2017 respectively.

As general-secretary he was responsible for public relations and internal communication, and was considered the chief strategist of the FPÖ and the "right-hand man" of leader Heinz-Christian Strache.

He was accused of failing to take serious responsibility as a minister, instead acting as if he were still in the opposition, as well as misusing his office and fostering a development away from liberal democracy and the rule of law.

His actions were criticised by opposition politicians, who accused him of seeking to undermine the independence of the BVT and to protect right-wing extremist groups close to the FPÖ.

Government spokesman for security Werner Amon stated that the interior ministry had failed to work through the proper channels, and that unprompted searches of staff members' homes was not normal procedure.

[14][15] Kickl was criticised in September 2018 after an email addressed to the police by his ministerial spokesman surfaced recommending that they limit contact with critical media outlets to a bare minimum.

Kickl stated he did not approve of the email's content, and the FPÖ accused the media of conducting a coordinated witch hunt against him.

[16][17] Kickl has also been accused of wielding the police for political purposes, lodging legal complaints against individuals and journalists who write negatively about him.

[20][21][22] In early 2019, Kickl proposed to amend the constitution to allow preventive detention of asylum seekers who could be considered a threat to public safety.

NEOS leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger refused to consider discussions for such an amendment, criticising detention based purely on potential danger as a feature of authoritarian regimes.

Kickl also proposed a curfew for asylum seekers between 10 PM and 6 AM on a voluntary basis and commented: "If they don't want to do that, we will find a place for them where there is little incentive to hang around."

In the video, both men appear receptive to proposals by a woman calling herself Alyona Makarova, posing as a niece of Russian businessman Igor Makarov, who suggests providing their party with positive news coverage in return for government contracts.

For this reason, and because in Kurz's view he had not taken the severity of the situation seriously, he requested that President Alexander Van der Bellen dismiss Kickl as interior minister.

In response, the remaining FPÖ ministers resigned and the party withdrew from the coalition, prompting Kurz to call a snap election.

While Hofer sought to take a moderate line, Kickl positioned himself as "the true party leader" and pushed for hardline stances on a number of issues.

In response, Kickl criticised Van der Bellen for breaking with the "tried and tested normal processes" of asking the leading party in the election to form a government and pledged that "Today is not the end of the story".

[54] During the 2024 federal campaign, Kickl styled himself as "Volkskanzler" (People's Chancellor), a term also used around 1933 by the Nazi Party in reference to Adolf Hitler.

[60][68][69][70] Kickl has praised the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán,[71] President of the United States Donald Trump,[72][73] and the Chancellor-Candidate of the Alternative for Germany, Alice Weidel.

[75] As interior minister in 2018, Kickl sought cooperation with the Russian government on disaster responses and the fight against organised crime and terrorism.

[39][83] He refused to condemn actions which liken pandemic measures to the Holocaust, such as anti-vaccine protesters wearing Jewish badges, and denied that he was trivialising the crimes of the Nazi regime.