Jorg Haider's New Clothes

Once a poster boy for Europe's resurgent far-right parties, Jörg Haider has been living a much quieter life as Governor of Carinthia, a big fish in the small pond of Austria's southernmost province, since stepping down as party leader in 2000. Now, the maverick politician is making waves again — and the turbulence is rocking Austria's coalition government.

In 1999, Haider and his Freedom Party ( FPO ) took 27% of the vote in parliamentary elections and a place in government as junior partner to Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel's conservative Austrian People's Party. The European Union imposed a...