Word: waffen
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...however, are far less obvious. In the beginning, it might have been to force the Freedom Party out of government. Later on, it was simply to show open discontent with the Austrian voters' decision to support a man who came to a meeting of former members of Hitler's Waffen SS and praised them as "decent men of character...
TIME: In the past you praised Hitler's employment policies and former members of the Waffen SS. Do you still hold those views...
TIME: What about your praise of the former Waffen...
Haider: At the time when I was speaking, I didn't know who was in the audience. I didn't know there were Waffen SS veterans...
...responded in a reactionary frenzy. Failing to be persuaded by the commitment to democracy and human rights the new government had signed the previous evening, and outraged that Austria could swear into office a party led by a man who has publicly praised Hitler's labor policies and the Waffen SS (these comments were later retracted by Haider), the fourteen other member nations of the E.U. downgraded Austria's diplomatic status and boycotted the inauguration. Israel immediately withdrew its entire ministerial envoy and the United States temporarily withdrew its foreign minister for consult in Washington...