"Just like Donald Trump overseas and just like Marine Le Pen in France, Hofer started talking frankly with people. These three are not afraid to call problems what they actually are," Hájek said.
According to him, what happened during the presidential elections in Austria merely confirms that if the ruling elite doesn't know how to respond to the will of the people, it calmly resorts to fraud and deception.
"The democracy in EU is merely in empty shell, and the greatest deficit of democracy can be seen in Brussels, where we have a 'government' that was elected by no one and a so-called 'parliament' that has no majority or opposition," he remarked.
And while it is clear that the entire establishment and its media will be against Hofer during the upcoming elections, the chances of him becoming the next president of Austria remain fairly high, according to Hájek.
"What I call 'the revolution of voters' is on the rise in the entire Western world. And, among other things, it offers us hope of restoring normal relations with Russia, which is imperative if we want to maintain peace. But NATO generals and the military-industrial complex don’t like that," he added. Austria is not currently a NATO member.
Meanwhile, Hofer himself told Sputnik that he wants to visit Russia as soon as such an opportunity presents itself, and that he considers the policy of anti-Russian sanctions to be counterproductive.
"I’m not happy about the sanctions that still exist because, simply put, they have a detrimental effect on the economy. During the last several weeks I met with many farmers who suffer because of these sanctions. So I got to ask, who needs these sanctions?" Hofer said.
On May 22, Austrians voted in the second round of presidential elections, choosing between independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen and FPO candidate Norbert Hofer, with the former being elected president after the authorities counted postal votes, despite the fact that Hofer was leading in exit polls. Following the announcement of the results, the FPO filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court.
