The European governments have already disqualified themselves in this regard through their own practice. Persecution and discrimination against foreigners are part of everyday life in the European Union. Haider does not miss an opportunity to point this out. He, an extreme right-winger? But hadn't the German Interior Minister Otto Schily—a social democrat—also demanded a halt to the further influx of foreigners? And doesn't Tony Blair in Great Britain—likewise a social democrat—call for a zero-tolerance policy for juvenile offenders? Etc., etc.
The excited reaction of the European governments to Haider has quite different causes than his xenophobia and intolerance. They are not offended by his politics, and certainly not by his personality. As the prime minister of the Austrian state of Carinthia, Haider has been working for months in the EU's regional committee in Brussels, without anyone getting worked up about it.