Austria's opposition is planning weekly protests against the country's right-wing government following the success of Saturday's mass demonstration in the centre of Vienna.
Police estimated that between 150,000 and 250,000 people filled the Helden platz, a vast square where Adolf Hitler addressed the Austrian people in 1938, but the protest's organisers claimed that the real number was closer to 300,000.
Chanting "Widerstand!" (resistance) and carrying posters comparing the far-right leader, Mr Jorg Haider, to Hitler, the crowd braved heavy rain to attend the demonstration, which ended with a three-hour rally.
The conservative Chancellor, Dr Wolfgang Schussel, dismissed the demonstration in advance as an "emotional outpouring" by old leftists and Internet freaks and predicted Austria would soon return to normal. But Saturday's protesters were drawn from all age groups and social classes, and the demonstration was so peaceful that Dr Schussel's own Interior Minister praised its organisers.
Some demonstrators came to protest against racism and xenophobia; others were outraged by the new government's plans to roll back the welfare state, and more were there to defend the rights of women to play an equal role in society. But most, like Ms Maria Fischer (78), wanted to show the world that not all Austrians approve of the presence of Mr Haider's Freedom Party in government.
"Europe must do something to stop Haider. I can't believe that my children's and grandchildren's generations don't understand that people are exactly the same, regardless of their race, colour or nationality," she said.
Mr Haider, who claimed that the protesters had been paid £100 each by "socialists and everything else that creeps and crawls left of the socialists", was forced to leave an Italian restaurant in Vienna on Saturday night when protesters spotted him.
An opinion poll in today's edition of the weekly magazine For- mat shows that most Austrians believe Mr Haider has declined in stature since his party entered government.
In a sign of growing confidence among the opposition, a number of speakers at Saturday's rally called for new elections. The pro-Haider backlash feared by many commentators after Austria's EU partners froze bilateral relations has failed to materialise, and the government is likely to become more unpopular when planned tax rises and welfare reforms take effect.
The Social Democrats, who remain Austria's biggest party, last week chose as their leader Dr Alfred Gusenbauer (40), who is the youngest leader in the party's history. As a left-leaning Social Democrat, he is keen to make common cause with the Greens, who have seen their popularity soar in recent weeks.
"We must find a majority beyond this government and it must be prepared strategically. We must start a discussion, with the help of the Greens but also of many disappointed supporters of the governing parties, about how an alternative project should look," he said.
Irish Times Reporters add:
About 150 people protested outside the Austrian embassy in Dublin on Saturday. org Haider's Freedom Party in the Austrian government. Ms Melisa Halpin said the Anti-Nazi League would be meeting this evening to discuss how to continue its campaign.
More than 11,000 people marched through Brussels yesterday to protest against the Austrian far right. Several Belgian government ministers joined the demonstration, including the Foreign Minister, Mr Louis Michel.
