VIENNA, Austria — Far-right leader Joerg Haider and his coalition partner renounced Austria's Nazi past Thursday, hoping to ease threats of international ostracism and sanctions if the president approves their government.
Haider and Wolfgang Schuessel, leader of the Austrian People's Party, signed the declaration before President Thomas Klestil, who demanded the move before he would approve their new coalition government. Schuessel, the potential new chancellor, said final approval was likely Thursday.
"Austria accepts her responsibility arising out of the tragic history of the 20th century and the horrendous crimes of the National Socialist regime," the statement said. "Our country is facing up to the light and dark sides of its past and to the deeds of all Austrians, good and evil, as its responsibility."
Haider won international notoriety about a decade ago by praising Adolf Hitler's "orderly" employment policies and lauding veterans of the murderous Waffen SS as "men of honor."
He has also spoken out against the EU's expansion and has predicted the new government will impose a nearly complete ban on immigration.
Thursday's statement declared that the government reaffirms its "unswerving adherence to the spiritual and moral values which are the common heritage of the peoples of Europe." And both leaders said their coalition strives for a tolerant society for all "in which xenophobia, anti-Semitism and racism have no place."
It was unclear whether the declaration would be enough to dissuade the rest of the European Union from taking diplomatic measures against the new government because of the presence of Haider's anti-immigrant Freedom Party.
The European Parliament overwhelmingly passed a resolution Thursday condemning a Haider-linked government and warned it would negatively "legitimize the extreme right in Europe."
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak called Haider "dangerous" to democracy and recalled the country's ambassador from Vienna for an indefinite period.
As Haider arrived at the president's office, hundreds of protesters chanted "Haider is a fascist." Someone scrawled the slogan "Against a Freedom Party government" on the walls of a nearby building in the downtown government complex.
Thursday, Israeli President Ezer Weizman said the Jewish state has a special obligation to be vigilant about racism and anti-Semitism.
In Austria, outrage over the proposed coalition spilled into the streets Wednesday. Police said some 15,000 people rallied in the evening in front of the People's Party headquarters to protest the coalition deal.
"Prove yourself to be a patriot," theater producer Andre Heller told the crowd in remarks directed to Schuessel. "No alliance with meanness. No alliance with right-wing radicalism."
But no one seemed to be able the stop the players involved.
In a meeting that ended early Thursday, the executive committee of Schuessel's Austrian People's Party adopted the coalition agreement with only one dissenting vote.
The Freedom Party had endorsed it unanimously a day earlier.
Neither party has confirmed the makeup of the government under the coalition deal reached Tuesday. The Austria Press Agency reported the posts would be split evenly between the two parties, with Schuessel as chancellor and a Freedom Party member as vice chancellor. Haider was not expected to take a Cabinet position.
The Interior Ministry would go to a member of the People's Party, the agency said. The Interior Ministry is responsible for immigration and the police — high priorities for the Freedom Party, which wants to restrict immigration and has a tough law and order image.
The Foreign Ministry was to go to People's Party member Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who holds the No. 2 post there now.
In an interview published today, Klestil took the unusual step of sharply criticizing both Haider and Schuessel. Still, he said he had to follow the results of Oct. 3 parliamentary elections, in which the Freedom Party won 52 of the 183 seats.
The left-wing Social Democrats took 65 seats — too few to govern alone. The People's Party also won 52 seats but coalition talks with the Social Democrats broke down.
"In a democracy, a parliamentary majority must be respected," Klestil said. "Personal sensitivities do not count.
"Should I swear in this government, I wouldn't do it out of personal conviction, because I fear that international damage will be inflicted upon Austria."
That fear is shared by other politicians.
Alexander Van der Bellen, the widely respected leader of the Greens party, called Haider a "stubborn repeat offender" and expressed dismay over Haider's "undifferentiated" attacks against "our friends and neighbors" in Europe.
Klestil could reject the coalition and even call new elections, although such a move would be unprecedented in Austria's post-World War II history.