FPÖ names Roman Linder as lead candidate in Carinthia farm election

Roman Linder, a municipal councillor from Afritz am See, will lead the Freedom Party’s list in Carinthia’s agriculture chamber election on October 25, ORF reported. He said the Freedom and Independent Farmers’ Association would seek to prevent the ÖVP-affiliated Farmers’ Association from winning an absolute majority.

The ÖVP-affiliated group currently holds 18 of the 36 seats in the plenary assembly of the Carinthia Chamber of Agriculture. The Freedom and Independent Farmers’ Association is the second-largest group, with seven seats. Linder is also the chamber’s vice-president.

Linder criticised the Farmers’ Association and called for a broad reduction in bureaucracy. He said farmers were required to complete courses, attend compulsory training sessions and submit written records or documentation for individual measures on their farms.

He also said the federal government’s drought aid was insufficient and called for payments from Agrarmarkt Austria to be brought forward. Payments normally made in December should be advanced to provide farms with liquidity, he said. Linder also proposed targeted support through agricultural diesel and mineral oil tax measures for farms that genuinely need it.

Linder described a possible Ukrainian accession to the European Union as a “death blow for Austria’s farmers”. He also rejected the Mercosur agreement in its current form, saying imports from South America should only be allowed if the goods were produced according to the same standards as those in Austria.

Linder repeatedly highlighted the proportion of women on his list. Women make up one-third of the first 15 candidates, but less than 10 percent of the full list.

The Freedom Party lost two seats five years ago. Linder said he expected the party to increase its vote share in the October 25 election.