Ulrichsberg - Far-right politician Joerg Haider called yesterday for respect and tolerance for German second World War veterans. Haider - whose arrival at Ulrichsberg, Austria, was greeted by a spontaneous standing ovation from a 2,000-strong crowd of mostly Austrian and German veterans of Nazi forces - countered critics of the annual event, calling it a good tradition that serves to thank those who built the peaceful Europe we enjoy today.
The annual Ulrichsberg meeting, has been criticised as a festival for old Nazis that serves as a feeding ground for neo-Nazis. Whether the criticism has sunk in over the years or the veterans have simply mellowed with age, the theme of this year's 41st gathering centred largely on democracy for all of Europe.
Haider called for compensation for slave labourers who were forced to work on farms and in factories throughout the Third Reich, and for tolerance for ethnic minorities, in a speech which was very different from one he made nine years ago. Then he made himself notorious in the eyes of the world by praising Nazi employment policies.
